Smoke and Mirrors
by chipmc
Summary: (Castlevania: SotN - FF8) Meet Adrian, a young man who is more than what he seems, as he searches for the answers to his origins, and gets caught up in the greatest struggle the world has ever faced.
1. Prologue Part 1

This is my attempt at a Castlevania: SotN/Final Fantasy 8 crossover taking place in the FF8 world. All characters belong to their respective owners.

**Smoke and Mirrors**

**Prologue - Part 1**

_Run away…_

That was the only thought running though the small child's mind as he dashed through the wilderness. Some would call it something else though, and he would agree as he reflected on it later in life. It wasn't a thought at all; it was instinct, an instinct that no child of his young age should be in possession of, or should any human be in possession of for that matter. It was a dark and un-natural instinct. But the child could do little in the way of pondering it at the moment. His mind had shut down due to the traumatic incident that took place hours before. A traumatic incident he would remember all too well when he woke up. His mind had opted to shut down to lessen the pain from what he was forced to watch; and let this new instinct he never knew he had to take control and get him too safety.

_Run away…_

Instinct. That was what was forcing his small legs to run faster than they ever have before. That was what was making him dodge the obstacles he couldn't see in the moonless night. He ducked under branches and jumped across fallen trees with in-human speed and grace that no other human possessed. Eyes seeing in the pitch darkness what no other human could see. Ears hearing the snaps of twigs under his feet and the distant howls of wolves that were too far away for any human too hear. Nose smelling the pungent sweat that his small body had worked up along with the myriad of scents within the wilderness that no other human could smell. Skin prickling at the cold of the night and otherworldly sensations that no other human's skin would prickle at.

_Run away…_

And that was what he did. He kept running until his small body, powered by this seemingly foreign instinct and power, could no longer take the exertion. The "Instinct" had achieved its objective; it had run away. Its new objective sought rest for the weary young body. The child stopped his run and sniffed the air. The scent of pond water and fish filled his senses; a lake was nearby. It rested miles off the beaten path, secluded enough for him to safely rest and hide from those that perused him. The child staggered toward the lake's edge, legs shaking and threatening to collapse from the exertion of the escape. Cupping his hands he drank from the water, moistening his dry throat. Looking around at his surroundings he then found a nearby tree. With legs struggling, he walked to the tree and collapsed on the ground next to it, resting against the tree. The Instinct had done its job; it had directed the young boy to safety and found him rest. And so the child closed his eyes, and sleep overcame him.

Morning dawned upon the small lake and the child sleeping against the tree. Eyes were forced awake from the light of the rising sun reflecting on the lake's surface. The child took a few moments to let his eyes focus on his surroundings. A puzzled look came upon his face. "_Where am I?" _the child asked himself. Standing up on sore legs he investigated his surroundings more, finally coming up to the lake's edge to get a drink of water. He saw his reflection in the lake's surface and almost screamed.

The person he saw in the water did indeed look like him, but something was very different and very wrong. Where he expected to see light blue-green eyes he saw the most frightening eyes he had ever seen. Red. The eyes that looked back at him were the deepest shade of red he had ever seen; eyes as red as the color of blood. No white shown outside the blue-green irises either. These eyes were completely red save for the black pupil in the middle. The child shakily moved his hand toward his face, not knowing whether to believe the reflection in the lake was him or not.

He opened his mouth in wonderment, only to gasp at what he saw. _"My…my teeth?"_ the child asked himself in panic. Where normal teeth should've been there were elongated fangs that looked similar to that of a wolf. The child didn't know what the think. He was too much in wonderment to be frightened by this. He tapped the point of one of these fangs with his finger and drew it back quickly. Staring that the spot of blood forming on his fingertip he looked back into the water. _"A monster? Wha…what's happening?"_ the child thought.

That was when the memories came back.

The child grabbed each side of his head and screamed in pain as visions from the night before assaulted him. Visions of people gathering in the town square screaming and cheering. "Kill the sorceresses!" they all cheered. He remember the rough, strong hands that held him back as he tried in vain to break though the crowd. He remembered the smell of burning flesh filling his senses and making him sick to his stomach. He remembered finally breaking through the crowd and seeing the gruesome sight before him. Bodies tied to wooden stakes were set afire; some of them still alive, screaming in agony. His eyes finally fell on the one in the center. The fire that had been set to it was snaking its way up the kindling to the stake in the center. He saw a woman bound to the stake, and her eyes locked with his. She looked upon him and smiled, telling him words he could barely hear. The fire took hold of her, burning away clothes and peeling away flesh. But the woman did not cry out in pain. She continued to look upon him, the smile never leaving her face. That was when the same strong, rough hands seized him again. He started shouting, screaming, trying to escape from those hands and run to the woman's aid. He continued struggling as he watched her go limp. She was no more, her life literally burned out of her. He stared at the now dead body on the stake being consumed by the fire, still struggling to get away from those accrued hands. Finally, when it felt like he could struggle no more, he heard a deep, thunderous sound. It was his heartbeat. It felt as though it was about to rip itself from his chest it beat so hard. He could feel the blood run fast and hot through his veins. Eyesight and hearing started sharpening. Muscles were tightening. And then there was nothingness. Nothingness until he woke up next to a tree by the lake.

The child opened his eyes then and looked back upon the lakes surface once more. The red eyes and fangs were gone now. Blue-green eyes and normal teeth were back where they belonged. But the child didn't care about that at the moment. He laid himself down upon the ground and curled up. Hot tears stinging his eyes as they crept down his face from the corner of his eyes. He lay like that sobbing for a while. How long he couldn't tell you. But he continued to cry for what seemed like hours. Muttering the first words he had voiced since last night.

"Mother…"


	2. Prologue Part 2

**Smoke and Mirrors**

**Prologue - Part 2**

Winhill is a sleepy little village nestled in between some mountains on the southern continent of Galbadia. Some would say that it was as xenophobic as the secret city of Esthar due to its seclusion from the outside world. People here lived a relaxed life, and the few who knew how to use weapons rarely ever had to use them except for the odd monster that found its way into the village. This made the village perfect for the little boy.

It had been approximately a year since he woke up beside that lake. He had lived as best he knew how. He lived off the charity of those few generous people that were still left in this world. And for those that were not as generous? He would often sneak into homes when those that lived there were away; stealing what food he needed to live. For shelter at night he would find suitable spots in the wilderness to set up a makeshift camp. He wouldn't think to do so now, but later in life he would thank that old man that took him on those camping trips in his home village and taught him a little bit about survival. When he was lucky he would hide in the odd chocobo stable and in the haylofts of the barns he could find and sleep. Restful sleep didn't come often too him though; as memories of that tragic night would sometimes plague him in his sleep. Never the less, he pressed on, always moving as far away as he could from where he woke up that fateful day.

During his travels he noticed several odd changes in him. Most noticeably was an inexplicable increase in speed and stamina. Which saved his life more than he would care to count when monsters gave chase or when people caught him stealing. He found that he could see well enough even on moonless nights to travel un-inhibited. Ears would detect the faintest of sounds, giving him early warnings against nearby monsters. He had chalked all of this up to having to live on the road, and thus having to adapt to stay alive. But he couldn't help but feel that it was much more than that. It was something almost un-natural.

Whenever he pondered this the memory of the blood red eyes and fangs he saw in the lake's surface would come up. And he would dismiss everything immediately with a shudder.

He had finally reached the coast and stowed away on a ship, crossing the ocean that separated the southern coast of Galbadia and the small islands that were scattered on the northwestern edge of the Centra continent. It was by this means that he found himself in Winhill now. The open roadside shops provided many opportunities to steal what food and supplies he needed. He had been doing this for a few days now without the merchants noticing a thing.

It was on this day that he found himself hiding in the shadows of a few shipment crates ready to steal what food he could when the coast was clear. He was about ready to make his move when he heard footsteps coming down the cobblestone road accompanied by voices. He ducked back into the shadows just in time not to be seen by whoever they were. He listened in on the conversation the strangers were having. Soon curiosity had him peeking around the edge of the crate to see who they were.

One was a tall man. Long brown hair flowed down over his blue cloak. Under the cloak was a white shirt, with white pants and black boots completing his wardrobe. The shorter one was a young girl. Similarly long blonde hair with a green dress that ended around mid thigh. White stockings started from her knees and went down to green shoes that matched her dress. His curiosity urged him along even more, and he found himself creeping around to the crate that was nearest too them to listen in on the conversation.

"So, what will it be tonight?" the man asked the young girl.

The girl looked around at the shop's selection for a few moments. "Well, we had chicken twice already this week…' She looked around a few more moments, unable to decide.

The man looked at the selection, trying to help out. "Well, looks like they have a new shipment of broccoli in. Something vegetarian tonight?"

The girl made a disgusted face, sticking her tongue out. "Eww. You know I hate broccoli."

Not eating something because you didn't like its taste. The boy could remember a time that he had such luxury.

A grin slowly grew on the man's face. "Well, we could always go to the restaurant and bring home a pizza."

The girl narrowed her eyes and looked to the man. "Oh no you don't. You know what Annet said. You need to cut back on the greasy foods. They're not healthy. And besides, lately it seems you're outgrowing your belt." The girl poked the man in the stomach to emphasize her point.

The man looked at her with mock offense. "Hey! I'll have you know I'm in the best shape I've ever been in. Have you forgotten who kills the most monsters in this town? I need all of those greasy and unhealthy foods to keep my energy up."

"Yeah, sure you do." the girl said while rolling her eyes, turning her attention back to the selection before her.

Meanwhile the boy had grown bored with their banter, and used the distraction to sneak off to the side of the main display. A bucket of apples was sitting on the floor to the side, not yet put up in the main display by the merchant, and he was busy pocketing as many as he could. He had just grabbed his last one when the pile of apple that rose above the rim of the bucket became unstable, sending apples rolling in all directions on the ground. He didn't stick around to see if anyone noticed, and took off toward the woods in a run.

The girl looked over quickly to her left, startled by the sudden avalanche of apples, and noticed a figure running towards the woods. She also noticed the apple dropping from his hand and her eyes grew wide with realization.

"Thief!" the girl cried out, and took off into a run after the boy.

The man stood there for a few seconds, confused by all of the commotion. Finally realizing what was happening he took off after the girl and the apple thief. "He..hey! Wait up!" he shouted, trying to keep up.

* * *

The boy was ducking under and bounding over any obstacle that was in his way with grace and ease. This wasn't the first time he was caught red handed. He had eluded many in his escapades. Women had chased him wielding the brooms they were using to clean with when they caught him. Men had chased him with more conventional weapons though, pitchforks and so forth. Some even had guns and took shots at him, but he was always too far out of sight for them to get a decent aim. There was something fundamentally different about this chase, and he realized this as he took a look over his shoulder. This girl was keeping up with him. 

The girl in question was ducking under and bounding over any obstacle in her way with just as much grace and ease as the boy showed. Eyes narrowed in determination she picked up her pace and started gaining on the boy, that was until a noise off to her right distracted her long enough to not see the tree root she tripped and fell over. She twisted her ankle as she fell, and when she tried to get up it proved itself useless by the pain shooting up through her leg. She would've punched something, yelled, or done anything else she could think to do out of frustration if it weren't for the sight before her. The owner of the noise that distracted her made its appearance before her. A caterchipiller had found its supper for the night.

* * *

The boy took one more look over his shoulder and found the girl was no longer chasing him. Slowing to a stop he leaned against a tree to catch his breath while taking out one of the apples he had stolen from the merchant. He had eaten almost three quarters of the apple when he heard the scream. He looked up quickly, back down the path he had been running down. Standing still for a few seconds he slowed his breathing so he could hear better. He heard the scream again. 

"Help!"

He recognized the voice. It was that girl at the merchant that was chasing him. Was she that far back? He didn't know when she lost his trail. All he knew was that she was gaining on him, so he ran that much harder. _"Should I go and help her?"_ he asked himself. He took a few moments to think. He might get caught if he helped her. He'd get turned over to whatever authorities they had. What would happen to him then? And the man she was with, he was chasing them too, wasn't he? Surely he'd help her out with whatever was wrong. His mental debate continued until he heard her scream again.

"Help!"

His eyes immediately looked up and narrowed. The decision was made. And as the almost eaten apple fell from his hand to the ground he ran down the path the way he came.

* * *

The caterchipiller was closing in on it prey, and the girl was backing up as far as she could, mentally cursing her luck. _"I just had to leave my daggers at home today, didn't I?" _she mentally scolded herself. _"Even with a twisted ankle, if I still had my daggers I could rip the thing a new a.."_ She didn't have time to finish the thought as the giant worm reared back, showing its full set of pointy and sharp teeth and drooling out of the corner of its mouth. It seemed to take its time, savoring the moment. Finally it started to close in, and the girl closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable until… 

**Thunk**

The caterchipiller hissed and lost its balance, rolling over. The girl's eyes shot open in time to see a rock rolling across the ground and the caterchipiller writhing back and forth trying to right itself. Out of the right corner of her eye she saw a figure leaping into the air, wielding something over his head. _"That boy!" _she thought. _'It's the same boy that stole the apples! And…is that a stick in his hands?"_

The girl looked on in awe as the small boy, smaller than her, pounced on the back of the disoriented worm, letting out a battle cry as he beat the beast in the back of the head with his stick. The caterchipiller screeched and jerked around violently, easily throwing the small boy off. The boy landed with ease though, and was back on his feet in the same second. The caterchipiller had finally righted itself and faced to boy that dared interrupt its dinner. It charged for the boy, attempting to crush him with its weight. The boy deftly leapt out of the way though, gabbing the stick into the beat's side as it came by him, causing it to screech again. The boy took the initiative as the caterchipiller tried to recover, jumping on top of the beast's body facing its head. Rearing back the boy took aim and jabbed the stick into the worm's eye, making the beast howl in pain. Jerking around violently the caterchipiller succeeded in knocking the boy off again. The boy was back on his feet again with in-human speed, but the worm was ready with an offensive and spewed sticking tendrils of webbing from its lower abdomen at the boy's feet, locking him in place. The boy looked down in surprise, trying in vain to dislodge his feet.

"Look out!"

The boy looked up in time to see the caterchipiller swing its body around at a high speed, striking him on the right side of his body, ripping his feet from the webbing that held him to the ground and sending him through the air crashing into a nearby tree. The boy lay on the ground, trying to catch the breath that was knocked out of him as the caterchipiller slowly made its way over to him. The beast would have two meals tonight.

The boy tried to raise himself off of the ground, arms shaking with the exertion. With blurry vision he looked up through the stands of hair that now covered his face at the giant worm making its way over to him. He could almost smell the thing's putrid breath. But if one could look into the boy's eyes at the moment they wouldn't see fear, they would see anger, rage, and any other emotion that a young child in this position shouldn't be feeling.

**Thump-Thump**

A familiar sound filled his ears. He could hear his blood rushing through his ears. And it sounded like his heart had moved from his chest to his head and began beating as loud as it could.

**Thump-Thump**

Ears sharpened, allowing him to hear everything around him. From the insects under the bark of the tree behind him to the birds in the sky miles above him.

**Thump-Thump**

Eyesight began to sharpen. Anyone who could see his eyes would swear that it looked like blood was seeping into them. Taking away the natural color of his eyes and replacing them with dark red.

**Thump-Thump**

He could feel his gums in him mouth stretching. Allowing room for the normal canines in his mouth to grow. And as he opened his mouth, vicious looking fangs shown, accompanied by a low, in-human, guttural growl. All in defiance of the creature that dared try to prey on him.

**Thump…WHA-CRACK**

Blood red eyes darted to the left fast enough to see something silver and thin fly through the air and imbed itself into the caterchipiler's side. The beast let out a painful howl as the weapon dislodged itself and returned to its master with a simple flick of his wrist. The long, brown haired man from before ran to the side, getting the caterchipiller's attention away from the girl and boy and onto himself. The beast was severely wounded now, but made one last attempt and charged at the new combatant. A loud snap was heard, and the bladed end of the brown haired man's whip found itself lodged into the flesh between the beast's eyes. The caterchipiller fell over, and the man returned his whip with another flick of his wrist, causing a small spray of blood to come out of the beast's head with the action.

The boy looked on at the scene before him. He saw the creature fall to its death as the blood in his veins slowed along with his beating heart. He looked on as his hearing dulled and the giant worm's haggard breathing stopped. He saw the monster's blood begin to pool around its body as his vision became blurry. He saw the man coil his whip as he felt his gums close in around the fangs that were retracting themselves. And finally, he looked over at the girl, who was staring at the monster's corpse. And she looked over at him, just in time to see him collapse to the ground and pass out.

The girl crawled over to the boy and gently rolled him over. Blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth and she could hear a wheeze in his breathing. The man took one last look at the caterchipiller and walked over to the girl as she cradled the young boy's head.

"Are you alright?" he asked her as he crouched down beside her. Looking her over for any obvious injuries and then to the boy who's head rested in her lap.

"Yeah…" she said in between breaths. "Twisted my ankle pretty good. But that's it." She looked down at the boy again, concern written on her face "Its him we should be worried about. He took a pretty hard hit."

The man nodded and looked down at the boy again, a million and one questions filling his head.

"He'll die if we don't do something Richter. We have to help him." She looked up to the man, eyes pleading.

The man, Richter, nodded once more, and as gently as he could lifted the small boy onto his shoulder. After situating him he extended his hand to the girl to help her up.

"Come on Maria, we'll take him back to our place."


	3. Prologue Part 3

**Smoke and Mirrors**

**Prologue – Part 3**

The woman looked down at the small child as she dabbed a moist cloth over his forehead, cleaning the cuts he had gotten from that fight with the caterchipiller. Seeing that she had done all she could do she rinsed the cloth out in the bowl of water next to the bed and laid the freshly soaked cloth over his forehead.

"Will he be alright Annet?" asked Maria, who was sitting in a chair not far away, ankle fully bandaged.

"I don't know…" answered Annet, looking down at the small child with concern as she took one of his little hands into her's. She looked over her shoulder as Richter entered the room.

"I called Jun. He should be here any minute." He announced as he came in through the door. He looked down at the boy for a few moments and then looked to Annet, giving her a meaningful look. Annet nodded and stood up from the bedside, looking over to Maria.

"Keep an eye on him Maria. I'll be outside if you need me."

"Okay." Answered Maria as she turned around to keep silent guard over the boy.

* * *

"So, you don't know who he is?" Annet asked Richter as they stood by the fireplace in the living room. 

Richter shrugged his shoulders. "Nope. Like I said, Maria and I were at the corner market when she saw him steal some apples and took off after him. Next thing I we're in the woods, and Maria's on the ground while he's trying to fight off a caterchipiller."

Annet looked down into the fire for a few moments, thinking. "The clothes he's wearing, they're all torn, nothing more than rags. And you said he was stealing food… You think he's an orphan?"

Richter crossed his arms and gazed at the painting on the wall over the fireplace. "Probably. That sorceress war only ended a little more than a year ago. Those things have a nasty habit of making orphans you know…"

Annet continued to look down into the fire. "A year… He's been alone and homeless for a whole year? The poor child… He can't be any more than ten years old."

Richter could only nod as he continued to gaze at the painting. A knock at the door startled him out of his trance. As he opened the door his eyes feel on an old, short, oriental man. He appeared to be in his 60's and was no taller than five feet. His head was bald and he sported a long white mustache and beard. Richter always thought he was quite the cliché, and smiled down at the old man as he greeted him.

"Speedy service as always. Eh, Jun?"

The old man known as Jun snorted as he looked up at Richter through squinted eyes. "I try. So, what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time Belmont?"

Richter snorted back as he looked down at Jun. "Why do you automatically assume I'm the one always getting into trouble?"

"Because you're the one always getting into trouble." was Jun's simple reply as he walked by Richter into the house. Richter mumbled to himself for a few moments before closing the door.

"Its good to see you again Jun." Annet greeted with a smile.

"Likewise my dear. You're looking lovely as ever." Jun replied as he took a deep gentlemanly bow before Annet. Still at the door Richter began muttering something else under his breath. Something about dirty old men.

"So, what troubles you my dear?" Jun asked Annet, throwing a knowing look over to Richter as Richter glared back.

"We'll explain everything. Follow me please." Annet told him as she led him to the back room.

* * *

Jun examined the small child who lay in the bed. Hands lightly tracing over the spot where boy took the blow from the monster. Jun spoke to himself at times and asked the others questions when he needed too. 

"This scrawny little boy was fighting off a caterchipiller?" he asked with a little hint of disbelief in his voice.

"Well, he was kinda winning at first. Then…he sorta started losing." spoke Maria.

"Indeed…" Jun trailed off as he continued his examination. He paid special attention to the child's mouth, opening it enough to look in. _"Interesting…" _Standing up from the bedside the old man extended his hand toward the child. "Cura." The cuts on the child's body began to close, and the angry red color along the side of the child's abdomen began to turn a more healthy color. _"Very interesting..." _When he was satisfied he turned around and faced the others.

"Well, he didn't crack any ribs, which is good. He'll only have a nasty bruise and be sore as hell for a few days. Just try to keep him off of his feet till then. Put some food in him too. The boy is quite boney."

"Thank you Jun, we will." said Annet as she walked him to the front door. "I was just about to make dinner. Would you like to join us?"

"I would love too my dear, but I must be going. I have some chores left to do at home." Jun said as he took hold of Annet's hand and bowed, making Annet giggle and Richter's left eye twitch.

Jun looked over at Richter. "Richter, walk me home would you?"

Richter's eyes widened. "Wh…why?"

Jun turned to the door and began to open it. "I am but a small old man and it is dark out. What would I do if I ran into a monster?"

"Pfft, yeah, whatever." Came Richter's reply. He knew more than anyone that Jun could take care of himself against a monster. _"A monster, yeah, right. That old fart could take care of himself against 20 monsters."_ Richter however decided to humor the old man.

"Oh, alright. I'll be back in time for dinner Annet."

"Okay. Be careful. Goodnight Jun." Annet waved as they walked out of the door.

"Goodnight my dear." Jun waved back as he exited the house with Richter in tow.

* * *

"You could take down a whole wave of monsters without breaking a sweat. Why did you want me to walk you home?" Richter asked Jun as they walked down the cobblestone streets. 

"Because we have much to talk about my boy."

"Huh? You mean the kid?"

"Yes." Jun stopped walking and turned to Richter. "Have you noticed anything strange about the boy?"

"Other than him possibly being a homeless orphan? No, not really. Why?"

"There is a strange aura about the boy…"

"Strange aura? Heh, are your Kung-Fu senses tingling again old man?"

The corner of Jun's mouth quirked up in a grin. "Perhaps. But I have felt this strange aura before."

"Really? Where?"

"In the war against Adel."

Richter stopped for a moment and stared at Jun. Not many people knew that he and Jun served in the Galbadian military during the sorceress wars, which was where they first met each other. After Adel's defeat and the war ended they both retired from the military. Richter had decided to settle down and moved to Winhill with his wife Annet and her sister Maria. Jun had moved to Winhill as well to open up a small clinic. He also taught martial arts in his free time; Maria being his only student.

"You remember the types of creatures Adel would often raise, no?" Jun asked.

"Yeah. Besides all of those guys in the fruity uniforms there were monsters of all kinds."

"And you no doubt ran into monsters of the undead variety, right?"

"Yeah. That was the first time I ever ran into those kinds of monsters…"

"That's because the undead are un-natural."

"What do you mean?"

Jun sat down on a nearby bench and motioned for Richter to join him. "The undead don't just pop up in the world like regular monsters so to speak. They don't breed. They are created by other means."

"What other means?"

"Magic. It takes a very high level of black magic to raise the undead, a level only attainable by sorceresses. Some call this brand of magic Necromancy."

"Necromancy… Wait a minute, what does all of this have to do with the kid back there?"

"I'm getting to that." Jun said as he sat his cane to the side and relaxed on the bench. "You were never in the Battle of Centra were you?"

"No. I was stationed in Deling then."

Jun nodded. "We faced the largest group of undead we ever faced in that battle. Abandons, Blood Souls, Forbiddens, Gerogeros, and anything else that even looked half-way undead came at us that day. There was also a new type of undead I had never seen before.out there that day. More deadly than anything I've ever had to face. They moved as if they were shadows. Moving so quickly you would see then still standing where where they were originally, and 'poof', they were right behind you."

Wow…what were they?"

"Vampires."

Richter's eyes went wide. "Vampires?"

Jun said nothing. All he did was sit there, gazing out toward the horizon.

"You're kidding right? I mean…Vampires? They're just something little kids tell stories about to scare each other. Something that Stoker guy wrote a book about. Something they make cheesy movies out of. Vampires…they're just a myth…right?" Richter was standing now, still wide-eyed and unbelieving.

"They were a myth...until that battle."

Richter sat back down hard, trying to sort out his thoughts. _"Vampires…"_ A million questions tried to force themselves out of his mouth at once. He had to settle on the simplest of the questions. "How?"

Jun just shrugged. "They say every myth has to start somewhere. Perhaps they really did exist in another time, or another world, who knows. If they did actually exist I would imagine Adel knew about it and summoned them forth. If they didn't she could've very well crafted them herself. Adel was a powerful sorceress. I dare not doubt her abilities."

Richter stared off into the distance for a few moments, thinking. "You still haven't told me what this has to do with the kid."

"The child's aura that I sensed. I told you I felt that aura before…"

"Yeah?"

"…The first time I felt it was when I faced those vampires."

Richter was out of his seat again, staring wide-eyed at Jun. "Y-You're saying that kid…is a vampire?"

"…Yes...and no.."

Richter did the only thing he could, he laughed. He laughed loud and hard as Jun waited for him to settle down.

Richter had settled down after a few moments, wiping a tear from his eye. "The kid, a vampire? What evidence do you have? "

Jun took a few moments to gather his thoughts. "The child has obviously been living by himself, alone and homeless. That's not something a normal child so young would easily survive through."

"Well, maybe he was just lucky."

"Maria says he was gaining the upper-hand in the beginning of that battle against the caterchipiller. A child that young and small could hope to do little against a bite bug."

"Maybe he just caught the thing by surprise."

"A wound of that caliber should've killed a child so small. And even if they did survive, there's no possible way that the wound could have half way healed without magic in the same day."

This caught Richter's attention. "What? Half way healed?"

"Indeed. Maria said that after the battle there was blood coming out of his mouth and there was a wheeze in his breathing. Judging from her description on how the monster stuck the boy I can safely assume the blow cracked a rib and sent it through his lung, puncturing it. However, no one used healing magic on him until I got there. And before I used that Cura spell his ribs were not broken, nor was his lung punctured."

Richter didn't know what to say, he just stood there in a daze. Jun's evidence fell into place perfectly, but he was still skeptical.

Jun still had one more piece of evidence left though, and he saved the best for last. "Not to mention the boy has the fangs of a T-Rexaur."

Richter literally fell over this time. "Fangs? You saw fangs? You saw fangs and didn't bother to tell us?"

Jun waved his hand at Richter to calm him down. "I didn't want to cause a ruckus, we might have woken him. Besides, I exaggerate a little, there weren't that big. But I looked into his mouth just in time to see them retracting." Jun leaned over, eyeing Richter. "Have you ever met anyone with retractable teeth?"

"N-No…I haven't." Richter picked himself up from the ground and was busy dusting himself off until realization hit him. "Oh…Oh shit! I've got to get back!"

Jun grabbed Richter's arm to stop him. "Calm yourself Belmont. There is no need to worry."

"No need to worry? Are you insane? I left Annet and Maria back there with a VAMPIRE!"

Jun snatched Richter back into his seat next to him with surprising ease and relaxed back into the bench. "I only said the aura about him was similar to that of the vampires I faced in the Battle of Centra, not exactly the same."

"Wha-What's that supposed to mean?"

"It is hard to describe." Jun scratched at his beard for a moment, thinking. "Its as if he is a vampire, but at the same time he's not."

Richter had never felt so confused in all of his life. "Wha…?"

"The vampires I faced in the Battle of Centra were undead. Right?"

"Er…yeah."

"Have you ever used a cure spell on any of the undead monsters you faced in that war?"

Richter thought for a moment, trying to remember. "Yeah, I did. Cure spells have the opposite affect on the undead than they do on us. Cure spells hurt them. They taught us that in the academy."

"Correct. I used a Cura on that boy. The cuts he got from that fight healed."

Richter's eyes widened a little. "He's…not undead."

"Indeed. If he were undead he would've been killed by that Cura in his weakened condition."

Richter finally relaxed back onto the bench. Trying to let all of the information sink in.

Jun looked over with a grin. "Besides, the child was out in broad daylight and didn't catch on fire."

Richter chuckled at this. "True. You got me there."

Jun continued with his observations. "And its true that his aura and the auras from those other vampires are very similar. But there's one huge difference between the two."

"And what's that?"

"The auras of those vampires I fought in the war. They were dark, filled with malice, murderous rage, and an animalistic need to kill. That boy's aura is simply…dark."

"Simply…dark?" Richter tilted his head to the side for a moment. "Doesn't having a dark aura usually mean being…I don't know…evil?"

Jun chuckled at this. "Not necessarily. Darkness is only an element, much like fire, ice, or lightning, with minor differences of course."

"What difference would that be?"

"Before I explain, let me tell you about the element that opposes Darkness. Light is an element as well. We use it to categorize types of magic though. Cure and revive spell fall under this category. Holy spells are grouped with them too, only that it damages any target without discretion, undead or not. I'm sure you seen a few of those Holy spells in you time with the military."

Richter nodded to this.

Jun continued. "The elements of light and darkness are different from the other elements. They have a symbiosis."

"A symbiosis?"

"Yes. One cannot exist without the other. There is an old saying in my homeland. 'Light always gives birth to shadows, and thus creates darkness. And at the end of every dark tunnel there is always light.'"

Richter blinked. "Wow…that's deep."

Jun grinned. "Yes, it is."

Richter crossed his arms. "So, the kid isn't evil or whatever."

Jun nodded "I don't believe he is. Like I said. Darkness is an element, nothing more and nothing less. It's only as evil as the person using it."

Richter sat there slowly nodding, accepting Jun's explanation. "Makes sense I guess. But you said he was a vampire and wasn't. What exactly does that mean?"

Jun shrugged. "That I cannot say for certain. He appears to be very much a vampire, but he also appears to very much be human. Perhaps he's half and half. That would explain why he helped Maria."

Richter looked over. "What do you mean?"

"Those vampires from the war were soulless beings only guided by the malice in them. Its as if they had no minds of their own. They're eyes showed no intelligence what so ever. And whenever one of their brethren went down in battle they ignored it and continued in their attack, showing no concern for their fallen ally. This boy, however, made a conscious effort to help Maria. He heard her scream for help and made the decision to aid her. That's a big difference from those soulless creatures?"

"Yeah, it is." Richter looked over at Jun "Suppose that hints at the kid having a soul as well huh?"

"Yes, I believe he does, very much so."

Richter leaned back against the bench, looking up at the sky. "Half human and half vampire…wild. How does someone get like that?"

"For that we would need to know the parents. And he quite obviously doesn't have any. Maybe he was born this way. Or maybe he was 'created' this way."

"Created?"

"Yes. Adel was kidnapping children to find a successor. Maybe those children who were not suitable to be her successor became test subjects for her experiments. Perhaps she had a hand in how this child came to be like this."

Richter narrowed his eyes at this. He wouldn't put it past Adel to do something like this. For the lack of a better term, Adel was 'one crazy bitch'. Standing up to stretch, he looked down at his wristwatch and sighed. "Damn, where does the time go? Annet's gonna kill me."

"Then you had best get home my boy. It would suck for you if Annet decided she would rather have a much more dependable, older gentleman who happens to have a lot of experience...if you know what I mean." At this Jun sent Richter a knowing wink.

Richter's right eye decided to twitch this time. "Hands off you dirty old man."

Jun laughed good-naturedly and started his trek home. Suddenly remembering something he turned around. "Richter!"

Richter turned around in mid step. "What?"

"I'd imagine I don't need to tell you this, but this conversation should stay between us. The boy is an outsider in this village. You remember that stink the villagers raised the last time an outsider was in Winhill."

Richter thought for a couple of moments. "Yeah. Something about some guy named Loire. I remember now."

"We should also keep this from Annet and Maria for the time being too. Just to be safe."

"Yeah, okay."

"Oh, and Richter."

Richter turned around again with an exasperated sigh. "What?"

"Keep and eye on the boy.

"Keep and eye on him? I thought you said he was cool."

"He is 'cool'. But the child is young and I seriously doubt he can control this power. If he had full reign over it that caterchipiller would've been dead long before you got there. I wouldn't be surprised if the child doesn't know he has this power."

"Yeah, okay. Is that all?"

"That is all. Goodnight Richter."

"G'night Jun."

* * *

Maria watched the young boy as he slept, getting her first chance to get a real good look at him. The thing that stood out the most about him was the hair. She had never personally seen anyone in her life that had white hair. She knew there were people in the world with this color hair, but it was quite rare. It was long enough to barely touch his shoulders, and from the way it was frizzled and ratty it looked like it hadn't been washed in ages. 

The next thing she noticed was his skin. It was paler than her's, and she was fair skinned. Maybe he was so pale from the injury. Maybe he hardly ever came out in the sunlight. She couldn't tell.

She then guessed it was from his obvious lack of eating. The boy was nothing more than skin and bones. The cheeks of his face were sunken in. and you could easily tell where his ribs were located.

"You were stealing those apples because you were hungry…" she said to herself as she took the cloth that lay across his head to replace it with a new one. As she did this she noticed the fingers of his hand began to move. She stopped what she was doing and looked to his face. His brows started to crease and his mouth opened ever so slightly. _"Is he waking up?"_

"mmmm…" the child moaned, his head turning to the side. Maria scooted her chair closer to the bed. _"Talking in his sleep? Is he dreaming?"_

"mmm…" the child kept mumbling. Maria moved closer to the boy, trying to understand what he was saying.

"mm….mom." Maria was now hovering over the boy. _"Mom… His mother. He's dreaming about his mother."_

"Mom……n-no." The boy's head turned to the other side now. Brows creasing further down and his lips twisting into a frown.

"St…stop." Maria sat back now, confused but still intent on hearing what little of the dream the child would voice.

"Stop…hur-hurting her." Legs and arms began fidgeting.

"No…killing her…stop!" The child appeared to be frantic now, and Maria was getting a little scared.

"No! Kil-killing mom! Stop it!" The child was writhing now. His body arched up as he were in pain. Maria had had enough by now and tried to wake the child.

Grabbing each of his shoulders she began to lightly shake him. "Hey. Wake up."

"No!"

"Wake up!"

"Stop it!"

"Wake up!"

"MOM!"

"WAKE UP!"

"**NOOOO!"**

It was at this moment while Annet was preparing to set the table that she heard screams followed by something crashing to the floor in the back room. She rushed to the door and opened it, revealing a visibly shaken Maria trying to pick herself up from the floor and the boy, who was very awake and very scared from the looks of it, was crawling his way backwards into the corner of the room.

"What's happened?" Annet asked as she quickly made her way over to Maria to help her up. The boy finally saw her and began crawling franticly against the wall, as if it would open up and allow him though.

"He was having a nightmare. So I tried to wake him up. And when I did he screamed and knocked me over." Maria explained, still shaken.

Annet looked over to the boy, who had stopped trying to crawl backwards through the wall. He was breathing heavily and watched the two with wide eyes. His eyes would dart around the room for a moment but would always fall back to them. _"He doesn't know where he is. Doesn't know who we are. The poor thing is scared to death." _

Annet moved slowly toward him and crouched down on the floor, keeping a safe distance from the frantic boy. The boy moved back again, pushing himself even more up against the corner of the room.

"Its alright." Annet said in a soothing voice. "No one is going to hurt you."

The child's eyes stayed locked with her's. His eyes broke contact for a moment to look around the room, and then quickly fell back to her eyes.

Annet kept moving ever so slightly toward the frightened child, keeping her voice soft and soothing. When she was an arm's length away she reached out to him. The child turned his head away from her, face pressed against the wall. His eyes closed as they began to water, and he started sobbing in between breaths. Her hand lightly touched the side of his face and she wiped away a tear with her thumb. She could feel the poor boy shaking like a leaf.

"Its alright. No one's going to hurt you. You're safe now." She kept repeating in a shushed voice. The boy's eyes cracked open, red from the tears, and looked up at her. She smiled at him as she wiped away another tear and brushed her fingers though the boy's hair, tucking it behind his ear.

"We brought you back here after the monster hurt you so you could get better. There's noting to be afraid of." Annet told him as she continued to stroke his hair. The child seemed to be calming down now, closing his eyes as her fingers combed through his hair. The child looked up at Annet again, then over to Maria, who had situated herself on the end of the bed.

"My name is Annet, and this is my little sister, Maria. You remember Maria, right?"

The child looked over to Maria as she looked back at him, eyes softening and smiling at him. And for the first time the child spoke.

"Sh-she…chased me….I-I…stole…" the little boy trailed off and looked down as he sniffled.

"Its alright. No one's mad at you." Annet told him, wiping away even more tears.

"Yeah. Besides, you saved my life you know." Maria said as she sat down next to Annet on the floor. "You remember that monster that was about to eat me, don't you?"

The child looked over to her and nodded, voice still cracking. "B-big…worm."

"That's right. He was about to eat me and you saved me from him." Maria said with a smile. "But you got hurt fighting him, so we brought you back here."

The boy took a moment to look around, then looked back at the two. "Where…?"

"This is our house. We live here in Winhill." Annet told him. The boy was still sniffling, but he had stopped shaking and was calm now.

"Hey, I bet your hungry. I'm almost finished cooking dinner. Do you want something to eat?" Annet asked him. The boy looked up and nodded slowly. She smiled back at him. "Okay, I'll be right back." She got up leaving the little boy there with Maria.

Maria watched as the boy cast his eyes to the floor, and ducked her head forward to see his eyes from under his hair. "You're pretty brave you know. Fighting a big monster like that to save me. Thank you."

The boy looked up at her, and then to the side as his face turned red, making her giggle.

"You never told us your name. You have a name right?"

The boy looked back at her and nodded. "A-Adrian… My name's Adrian."

Maria smiled at him. "Pleased to meet you Adrian."


	4. Prologue Part 4

**Smoke and Mirrors**

**Prologue – Part 4**

Maria sat under an oak tree that day, watching clouds drift by and reminiscing over the last few years. Her eyes drifted down from the sky for a few moments to land on the one that put her in these nostalgic moods whenever she looked at him, just in time to see Jun knock his sword from his hand and throw him to the ground for what seemed like the seventh time that day.

"Have you tasted enough dirt for today Adrian?" Jun asked as he casually sheathed his own sword and dusted his hands off.

Adrian rolled over on his back, groaning in the process. "Yes sir." Was his only reply. He looked over at Maria who had begun laughing at him. She couldn't help it, he looked so funny lying on the ground like that with his arms and legs spread apart. She had sympathy for the poor guy though. Hyne knows she ate her fair share of dirt at Jun's hands.

"Good. I've got a patient coming in for an appointment soon. You two take the rest of the day off." Jun said as he started heading back to his house.

"Yes sir." Adrian and Maria spoke in unison as Maria walked over to Adrian, who was sitting up and dusting his pants off, muttering something under his breath about a 'crazy old fart'. He looked over as Maria stood over him with a grin on her face.

"You've gotten a lot better you know."

Adrian quirked an eyebrow at her. "Is that so?"

"Yep. You only got thrown down seven times today. That's a record." She said matter-of-factly as she held out her hand to help him up.

Adrian gratefully accepted her hand and heaved himself up. Standing to his full height he looked over to Maria. "So, rest of the day off. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm starving." Maria said and took a moment to think. "I know, meet me down by the beach in thirty minutes, I'll bring lunch."

Adrian nodded and started off for Jun's house. _"Jun and Adrian's house to be exact."_ Maria thought as she headed for her own house, looking out upon the fields and remembering the first few days that Adrian came into her life.

_

* * *

Maria had managed to coax Adrian into coming out of the back room after he woke up to eat at the table with her and Annet. The two stared wide-eyed at the little boy as he stuffed food into his mouth, acting as if he never ate anything before in his life. Annet had to wonder how long it had been since the boy had eaten a home cooked meal. The two managed to engage him in small conversation. It turns out Annet wasn't far off in her guess of the child's age; Adrian was only eight years old. She couldn't believe the boy was so young and living alone and homeless. He was younger than Maria even; Maria only being ten years old. She hadn't managed to get much more out of the boy though, he said nothing of his family or where he came from, only that he had gotten to Winhill by hiding on a cargo ship that traveled between the port on the Centra continent and the port near Winhill. The three had finished eating and were cleaning up when Richter came running through the door, fearing that he had missed dinner. The commotion scared Adrian so much that he dropped the plate he was holding and latched himself to Annet's side. She had to calm the frightened child down a second time that night._

* * *

Maria couldn't help but giggle at the memory. Richter looked so clueless that night as he scratched the back of his head, and Adrian looked so cute holding on to Annet as if his life depended on it. The poor boy was so skittish around them the first few days. 

_

* * *

Adrian had lived with the Belmonts for the first couple of weeks, but it soon became apparent that the house was only big enough for three people. Richter brought this concern to Annet's attention, but she would have none of it. Annet had made it her mission to give the boy a home and to fatten him up. Jun suggested that they move the boy into his house, seeing as how he lived alone and had plenty of room. And so Adrian moved into Jun's house, but there were some conditions the boy had to meet._

"_What's this?" Adrian asked, holding up what looked like a big stick that Jun had given him._

"_It's called a boken." Jun replied as he and Maria walked into Jun's backyard to begin their day of training._

"_What's it for?" Adrian asked, still holding it up._

"_Its what martial arts students use to learn how to fight with swords."_

_Adrian looked at Jun and blinked for a few moments in confusion._

"_Like I told you before my boy, I have room in my house for you to live, but I don't have room for dead weight. In addition to your chores I'll require you to train with me and Maria everyday."_

_Adrian looked even more confused now. "Tr-train?"_

"_Yes, I'm going to teach you how to use a sword." Jun looked down at Adrian, and a mischievous grin appeared on his face. "That is unless you're afraid of getting beat up by a girl." At this Jun motioned toward Maria, who was casually spinning her wooden daggers around in her hands with a smug look on her face._

_Adrian looked back and forth between the two, and then narrowed his eyes at Jun. "I'm not afraid!" He said and held the stick out in front of him._

"_Very well." Jun said as he walked off to the side. Turning around he looked between his two students._

"_BEGIN!"_

_At this Maria charged at Adrian with daggers ready, spinning and slashing at Adrian. All Adrian could do was yelp and swing his stick around clumsily, trying and failing to block any of Maria's attacks._

_Jun hummed a happy little tune to himself as he watched the scene play out in front of him. "Its as expected," he thought, "she's kicking the crap out of him. But the boy has to start learning somewhere." He started laughing at the sad sight in front of him as he yelled out to Adrian._

"_Quit running and fight back, you Prissy-Pants!"_

* * *

Maria was outright laughing now. Their sparing match had gone on for three more minutes and ended with her accidentally hitting Adrian in the nose. She had spent the next thirty minutes trying to apologize without laughing, while Adrian was giving her 'The Glare' along with 'The Silent Treatment' and holding a rag under his bleeding nose. 

This went on for the next five years. It was during this time that Jun and Richter decided it was time to let Annet and Maria in on Adrian's 'secret'. Annet was shocked to say the least, not believing it much like Richter did until Jun had presented all of the evidence he had to back it up. Maria was pretty shocked too, but it didn't change her views of the enigmatic little boy in the least. Maria and Adrian had grown close in those five years. They trained together everyday, with Maria winning ninety-five percent of the sparing matches, and when they were not training they were playing games like children are supposed too. They were quite literally the only children in town, so whenever you found one, you usually found the other.

It was when Adrian was thirteen years old that Jun decided it was time to let Adrian in on his 'secret' and try to force his powers to surface. Maria remembered that day with vivid detail, and shuddered at the memory.

* * *

"So, you really think he's ready for this?" Richter asked Jun as they, along with Annet, sat in the Belmont's living room. 

"_Yes. He's at the age where he's about to go through that 'special time' in life. I'm sure you remember it. Hair started growing in weird places, voice started to change, girls have boobs now rather than cooties…"_

_Richter held up his hand and had a disgusted look on his face, "Please, spare me. I know what you're talking about."_

_Annet cleared her throat to get the two's attention. "Why do you think now is such a good time to do it?"_

_Jun sat his cup of tea down on the coffee table. "Well, with his body chemistry about to get screwy for the next few years, I think its safe to assume the power will get screwy too along with it. It will mature along with him, it could very well surface at 'inopportune' times without his control."_

_Annet nodded in understanding. "So, you want to force it out now so he can lean to control it."_

"_Exactly."_

_Richter sat back and started rubbing his chin. "Sounds like its going to be easier said than done."_

_Jun nodded. "Indeed. I have an idea of how to force it out. But it won't be fun, for him or for me."_

_Annet looked down, clasping her hands and sighing. "It doesn't sound like we have much of a choice… I just hope he can handle this…"_

"_I just hope he can forgive me for what I'm about to do." Jun thought to himself. "I just hope he and Maria can forgive me…"_

_

* * *

Adrian stood in the room with Maria waiting for Jun to get there. They had to train inside today because it was raining outside. The room had all sorts of old oriental style weapons displayed on the wall, a punching bag was in one corner of the room, and one whole wall was lined with mirrors._

_Jun finally walked in, a hint of a grim look on his face. Maria grabbed her daggers and stood up from where she was sitting on the floor against the wall._

"_We're ready." Maria said while twirling a dagger around in her hand, testing it._

"_We're going to try something different today." Jun said as he unsheathed his boken._

_Adrian looked over to Jun. "Different?"_

"_Yes, different." Jun said as he finally turned around to look at Adrian. "You will spar against me today Adrian."_

_Adrian looked surprised for a moment. "Against you?"_

"_Yes. I wish to personally see how well your skills have improved." _

_Adrian took a deep breath. "Okay." He got into his stance as Jun got into his. Maria sat back down to watch the match, thinking to herself it was going to be a sadly short match._

_Jun nodded and Adrian charged, raising the stick over his head and aiming to bring it down on Jun's head. Jun blocked, spun, and struck the boy in the side hard enough to knock him down. Adrian rolled and stood up, holding his side._

"_You will find that I will not go easy on you." Jun said as he rose up into his stance once more. "Again."_

_Adrian charged again, aiming for a lower strike this time. Jun knocked it away and struck him in the other side, knocking him down again. Jun walked to the other side of the room, waiting for Adrian to get up. Once he did they both got back in their stance. "Again."_

_Maria watched this go on for a few minutes as Jun knocked Adrian to the floor time and time again. It seemed as though Jun was hitting him harder each time he knocked Adrian to the floor. Something didn't seem right, and she was starting to worry._

_Jun continued batting away Adrian's attacks and knocking him down to the floor. After about the twentieth round of this Adrian was crouched down on one knee, holding his side in pain. Jun had managed to give the boy a few cuts that were bleeding now. He loomed over Adrian as the boy struggled to get up, a disgusted look on his face._

"_This is it?" Jun asked as he looked down on him. "This is all you can do after five year? I've been wasting my time. You've learned nothing."_

_He could see Adrian was getting mad now. Adrian gritted his teeth and charged once more, aiming to run Jun through with his stick. Jun batted it away once more and punched him square in the chest this time, knocking the breath out of the boy and sending him a few feet through the air and onto the floor._

_Maria was really starting to worry now as she watched Jun slowly circle Adrian, who was coughing, trying to catch his breath._

_The look of disgust was back on Jun's face. "Pathetic…"_

_Adrian got back on his feet, the anger on his face clear now. Charging again he swung at Jun. Jun simply decided to block this time. Adrian swung as fast as he could, each strike failing to break through Jun's defense. Jun eventually got bored with this, and spinning with his stick held out, knocked the stick from Adrian's hands. Jun quickly grabbed the boy's hair and snatched him forward while sending a knee to his stomach, knocking the breath out of him again and sending him to his knees. Jun took a step back and studied the boy for a moment with disdain. "Very pathetic…" And with that did a spinning sidekick, hitting Adrian in the side of head and sending him flying across the room once more. Landing in a crumpled heap on the other side. Jun slowly walked over to him, shoving him with his foot back to the floor as Adrian tried to get up._

_Jun could tell the boy was in a lot of pain right now, and there were tears streaking his face. "Going to cry? That's all you're good for it seems! All you've done since you got here is get your ass kicked on a daily basis by a little girl! I might as well stop wasting my time with you and just keep you around to clean the house, which I might add you do a piss poor job of. Come to think of it, you're good for absolutely NOTHING!" Adrian tried to get back up one more time, shaking with the effort, only to be shoved down again by Jun's foot. Jun noticed that the boy was trembling now._

_Maria had simply had enough and marched across the room toward Jun, a look of venom in her eyes. "Just what the HELL do you think you're doing?"_

_Jun looked over, and with a powerful thrust, shoved Maria halfway across the room. "You stay out of this girl! This is between me and this pathetic waste of oxygen!"_

_Adrian, still trembling and gritting his teeth, looked up in time to see Maria slide across the floor. He gritted his teeth even harder and looked up at Jun with narrowed eyes. Jun notice the look of sheer rage in those eyes._

**Thump-Thump**

_J__un looked down at Adrian and rested his boken on his shoulder. "Looks like I knocked your little girlfriend down. What are you going to do about it boy?"_

**Thump-Thump**

_Adrian lowered his head as he started to tremble harder._

**Thump-Thump**

_Jun could sense it. The dark aura that he felt the first day he met the boy was resonating now._

**Thump-Thump**

"_Like I said, pathetic. You'll never amount to anything."_

**Thump-Thump**

_Adrian could feel it. The rush of blood his ears. The senses sharpening. The pain in his gums. The muscles tightening._

**Thump-Thump**

_Jun crouched down and spoke softly. "Richter should've left you in the woods to die that day…"_

**THUMP-THUMP**

_Before Jun knew what was happening he felt Adrian grab him by his ankle and sling him clear across the room hard into a wall. Jun coughed to catch his breath and looked over to Adrian, who was standing up slowly, fist clenched and trembling more than ever before. That's when he saw it, the eyes, red as blood as Adrian lifted his head and stared hard at Jun. Adrian threw his head back, opening his mouth and revealing fangs, and let out the most inhuman cry Jun had ever heard. It sent the worst chill ever up his spine._

_Maria looked up too, and her eyes widened in horror. She would never forget the way he looked that day. Eyes so red they seemed to glow, fangs bear for all to see, and the look of pure rage on the boy's face. "Adrian…Is…Is that really you?" she asked herself. Before anyone knew what was happening Adrian was in mid-air, sailing straight towards Jun. Jun barely had enough time to roll out of the way. He looked up and immediately ducked a fist that was aimed for his head, resulting in Adrian's fist connecting with the brick wall behind Jun, and breaking _through _the wall. Jun used the time to get up as fast as he could, and Adrian, unfazed by sending his hand through the wall, was on the attack again. A flurry of attack almost faster than he could evade came at Jun. He could literally see shadows trailing each of Adrian's attack, as if someone had place a strobe light in the room. Finally Adrian leapt at Jun and grabbed the clothing around Jun's shoulders. Jun used the momentum from the leap and spun around, flinging Adrian across the room into the opposite wall. As Jun spun back around his eyes widened. Adrian had 'landed' on the wall, sticking to it as if he were a spider. Adrian looked up slowly from his position on the wall, eyeing Jun again with those blood red eyes, and let out a fearsome inhuman growl as he leapt from the wall toward Jun. Jun wasn't fast enough this time and was tackled. Rolling along the floor Adrian pinned Jun down and raised both fist in the air, letting out another inhuman howl and preparing to smash Jun's skull open._

**"_STOP IT!"_**

_Adrian's fists stopped mere inches from Jun's head, blood red eyes widening. Jun looked into those eyes for a moment, looking to see if he could read any emotions flashing across those kind of eyes, and he did. Realization and recognition flashed in the blood red pools. Adrian looked over to where the shout had come from and saw Maria sitting on her knees, fist clenched against her chest, eyes wide and breathing heavily. Adrian looked back down, his fists still hovered over Jun's head, and he slowly unclenched them, staring at his open palms as his hands began to tremble. Then he looked up toward the mirrored wall, and he saw himself. He saw the same reflection he saw in the lake's surface that morning. The memories of the night before with the women being burned at the steak came rushing back. The vision of the woman in the center, the one smiling at him, the one that plagued his dreams so often came back. _

_Everything was quiet for a few seconds. No one so much as breathed, fearing what the break in the silence would bring. And then…_

**CRASH**

_The sound of breaking glass filled the room. Neither Maria nor Jun saw Adrian move from his spot on top of Jun all the way to the other side of the room where he smashed one of the mirrors, Adrian kept shattering each mirror as he worked his way down the wall; growling, howling, and shouting incoherent words as he went. Jun knew that enough was enough. Standing he waved his hand toward Adrian, a light emanating from it. _

"_Sleep!"_

_The spell hit Adrian just as he broke the last mirror, and he staggered backwards. Turning around, he looked at Maria and Jun, and fell over. Maria rushed over to him, cradling his head in her lap as Jun made his way over and kneeled down next to them. Adrian was still awake, trying to fight off the spell. He shifted his eyes at Jun, still red and now crying._

"_Why…?" A rough voice that sounded vaguely like Adrian's escaped his lips. He stared right into Jun's eyes._ "_Why…why…did you bring it back?"_

"_Bring what back Adrian?"_

_Adrian closed his eyes and his mouth opened in a short sob, revealing fangs. "Why…did you bring this back."_

"_I brought nothing back my son. It was always inside of you. I just forced it to come out."_

"_No…it was just a dream…it didn't exist…it was dead…why did you bring it back?"_

"_I had to bring it back. It is real Adrian. This power you have is real. I had to force it out of you so you would realize the it was there."_

"_Why…?"_

"_You have to lean to control it Adrian. I had to force it out so you could do that. If you don't learn to control this then it could come up on its own without your control and you could end up hurting yourself or someone else."_

"_No…I don't want this…don't want to learn…don't want…"_

"_I'm sorry Adrian. It was for your own good."_

"_Don't…want…it…Why…why…couldn't you…let me…be…normal?"_

_The sleep spell finally took hold, and Adrian passed out. Maria still cradled his head, not saying a word as she stroked his hair. Her own tears trickling down her face. Jun leaned forward and picked the boy up, carrying him to his room._

_

* * *

Jun had called Richter and Annet, and they were waiting outside of Adrian's room with Maria when Jun came out. Maria looked over to him as he came out, and walked up to him, staring him straight in the eyes. Jun knew what was coming, but did nothing to stop it. This one he deserved._

**CRACK**

_Jun was on the floor, holding his jaw in pain as Maria loomed over him, right fist clenched._

"_Maria!" Annet shouted, running over to Jun to help him up._

"_You bastard! You FUCKING OLD BASTARD!" Maria shouted, pointing a trembling finger at Jun._

"_That's enough Maria." Richter said as he leaned against the wall, eyes closed._

"_I'm sorry. I wish there were another way to have done this." was all Jun could say._

"_SORRY? SORRY DOESN'T BEGIN TO CUT IT! LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID TO HIM!"_

"_Maria…" Annet spoke softly as she helped Jun up. "Jun is right. We tried to think of another way. We really did…"_

"_We?" Maria asked as she started hard at Annet, then sent her glare over to Richter. "You two knew about this. Didn't you?"_

_Richter stood from the wall, uncrossing his arms and opening his eyes. "Yeah, we knew…"_

_A look of utter disbelief shown on Maria's face. "I…I can't believe…"_

_Jun spoke again, still rubbing his jaw. "I am truly sorry Maria, but you knew this had to be done. He was bound to learn of this power inside of him sooner or later. Better to do it now so he can cope with it and learn to control it."_

"_That's bullshit!"_

"_Maria, please…" Annet pleaded._

"_You know what, fine, I'm done arguing with you three. You did what you set out to do. Mission accomplished. I hope you're all happy." Maria stormed passed the three and headed for Adrian's room. _

"_Maria, come on…" Richter reached out and grabbed Maria's shoulder, only to have her shrug him off, and turned to address the three one last time._

"_Hyne help me. If any of you ever hurt him like this again, I swear…" she trailed off. Her mind was far too clouded with rage to come up with any coherent threats at the moment._

_Jun looked at her for a few seconds, a grin slowly coming up on his face._

"_What the fuck are you smiling about?"_

"_You're quite protective of him, aren't you?" Jun asked, the grin never leaving his face._

"_Why shouldn't I be?" Maria turned around and opened the door to Adrian's room. "He's the only friend I've got."_

_

* * *

Maria sat on the bed Adrian was sleeping on. One of her hands was holding one of his, and her other hand was combing though his hair. She'd been keeping silent vigil over him for the last few hours. Every once in a while he would move around, mumbling something under his breath, and she would shush him, quietly whispering to him that everything was alright. It seemed to work as the boy would calm down and continued sleeping peacefully. She had lost track of time, content with just sitting there with him as he slept. Finally, the twitching of his fingers in her hand told her he was waking up. Adrian slowly opened his eyes, blinking to try to make them focus. She mentally noted that they had returned to their normal color. Finally he looked to her, and she smiled back. _

"_Hey." She said, continuing to brush his hair back._

_He looked at her for a few seconds, then turned his whole body away from her, closing his eyes._

"_What's wrong?"_

"…_You shouldn't be here."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because…"_

"_Because why?"_

"_Because…" Adrian took a deep, shuddering breath. "…you could get hurt."_

"_Why would I get hurt?"_

"_Because of me…"_

"_You're not going to hurt me."_

"_You don't know that…" Adrian stared at the wall, refusing to look at Maria. "Monsters hurt people Maria…That's what monsters do."_

"_You're not a monster."_

_Adrian sat up, turning away from Maria and sitting on the other side of the bed._

"_I almost killed him…"_

"_But you didn't."_

"_Only because you stopped me…"_

_Maria sighed. "I'll say it again Adrian, you're not a monster."_

"_Then what am I…?"_

_Maria scooted closer to him, but Adrian still refused to look at her, he refused to look at anything but the floor._

"_Well, let's see what you are…" Maria took a few seconds to think. "First, and most obvious, you're a boy. Oops. I mean 'young man'."_

_Adrian said nothing, continuing to stare at the floor._

" _You're shy, bashful, and pretty damn stubborn. Which is what you're being right now. What else…Oh. You're cute when you get mad. You've got such an adorable pout."_

_Adrian was still silent, lowering his head and closing his eyes. Maria moved closer, placing a hand on his shoulder._

"_You're the guy whose butt I get to kick everyday in sparing practice."_

_Maria rested her chin on his other shoulder, speaking softly into his ear._

"_You're the brave little apple thief that saved me from a monster."_

_Maria finally circled her arms around him from behind, hugging him tight as she nuzzled his neck._

"_Finally, and most important,…you're my best friend Adrian, and I love you." And with that she kissed him on the cheek and began lightly rocking back and forth with him. She could hear him sniffle and feel him tremble a little._

"_None of that matters…Someone will hurt you because of what I am…Just like they did her…"_

"_Her who?"_

"…_mom."_

_Maria was silent for a few moments, her hands rubbing his arms._

"_You keep having nightmares about your mom don't you? Do you want to tell me what happened?"_

_Adrian took a few shuddering breaths, trying to compose himself._

"_The village…where I was born. The people there, they…they executed her…"_

_Maria's eyes shot open. "Executed? Why?"_

"_It was during the sorceress war. The people there were afraid. They were afraid that there might be more sorceresses out there. So…So they hunted them. Anyone they suspected of being a sorceress they would execute."_

_Maria was silent, still holding Adrian from behind._

"_Mom…she was a scientist. She knew how to make all kinds of potions. Her potions could heal anything. Whenever someone would get sick, they'd come to see mom and she'd make them better. The people there…they suspected her of being a sorceress because of this. They thought she was using magic. So they…they…"_

"_What did they do Adrian?"_

"_They burned her at the stake…" Adrian was crying now, and so was Maria._

"_They burned her at the stake…And I saw it Maria. I saw the whole thing. They held me back and I watched her burn."_

"_Oh, Adrian…"_

"_She didn't cry. She didn't even scream. She just looked at me and smiled the entire time. I tried to run to her, tried to save her. But everyone kept me back. That's…That's when…"_

"_What? What happened?"_

"…_that's when the monster in me came out."_

_Maria moved to Adrian's side so she could see his face._

"_I don't remember anything that happened. All I remember was waking up next to a lake the next day. I looked into the lake…and saw it."_

"_Saw what?"_

"_The monster…"_

_Adrian was biting hard on his lower lip, trying hard not to let the torrent of emotions begging to get out overwhelm him._

"_They killed her because she made medicine. But now…now I think they killed her because of me. Because she had a son that was a monster… If people knew that your best friend is a monster…they might kill you too."_

_Maria grabbed Adrian and hugged him as hard as she could. Adrian couldn't hold out any longer and began sobbing hard into her shoulder. Maria started rocking him back and forth, running fingers through his hair._

"_Don't…Don't you dare say that. What they did to your mother was _not _your fault. Do you hear me?"_

_Adrian said nothing, but he finally started hugging her back, and held on to her as tight as he could._

_A few feet away, the door to Adrian's room closed. On the other side of the door stood Jun, who turned and quietly walked away. Making his way out the front door, he looked up into the starlit sky, drawing his coat around him to keep out the chill air, and spoke into the night air._

"_Hyne. What kind of world have you created? What kind of damned world have you create that could let this child suffer so?"_

* * *

Adrian stayed in his room for a few days after that, and Maria stayed there with him, making sure no one disturbed him; telling the others that he would come out when he was good and ready. It took him a while, but with Maria's help Adrian soon learned to accept this new aspect of himself. This event had made them grow closer than ever before. If they were inseparable before, they were attached at the hip now. 

Soon Adrian sought Jun's help in learning how to control the power. Jun concluded that the power was based on his emotions, seeing as it only surfaced when Adrian got truly angry. So In order to control it, he had to control his emotion; and so Jun begun a long series of meditation exercises with Adrian, along with his daily training. It took weeks, months, and even a couple of years, but eventually Adrian was able to call upon it when he wanted. Soon after this Jun started training Adrian to incorporate this power in with his physical training. Jun had to admit, even with over fifty years of experience on his side, that when Adrian finally got the hang of using this power he found it hard to keep up with the boy. Richter had seen it in action as well, and had compared Adrian to the super-heroes you find in comic books. Truly, the boy would leap into the air, really high into the air, and contort himself into all kinds of twists and spins. Pretty soon, much to Adrian's chagrin, Richter would start humming the Spider-Man theme song every time he saw the boy.

Pretty soon Adrian reached that point in life where he needed 'The Talk'. Jun brought up this issue with Richter and Annet, and Richter immediately volunteered, reasoning that the dirty old man would corrupt the poor boy. Annet had a simpler solution and bought Adrian a book. Maria remembered that book, and nodded her head slowly at the memory.

* * *

_They were walking down the beach that day, Maria stalking down the sand with Adrian following behind her and keeping a safe distance. Something seemed to be bugging the girl._

"_What's wrong?"_

"_Nothing. Why?" Maria asked, keeping her eyes locked straight ahead._

"_You just seem…moody today."_

"_I'm not."_

"_Could've fooled me…"_

"_What's that supposed to mean?" Maria said as she spun around and sent Adrian a glare._

"_Umm, nothing. You've just been quiet and frowning all day is all…"_

"_I had a bad morning, alright? Richter flushed the toilet while I was in the shower, Annet burned my pancakes, and I tripped and fell down the front steps. I think I have a right to be a little moody."_

"_Oh…okay."_

_They continued walking, and Maria heard Adrian 'hmm'-ing to himself. "What?"_

"_Huh? Oh, nothing. Just thinking."_

"_About what?"_

"_Nothing really. Its just that I'm starting to see a pattern here."_

"_A pattern in what?"_

"_Your mood. It seems you get like this on the same time every month…"_

_Maria spun around to Adrian again with a horrified look on her face. Adrian took a step back, holding his hands up._

"_WHAT?"_

"_Umm…I mean…this book Annet gave me…" Adrian pulled the book out of the bag he was carrying, showing it to Maria. "It..its got a lot of information in it. It goes into detail about the female body and all…you know…menstrual cycles and stuff. I..I just think it pretty interesting."_

_Maria stood there with the blankest expression on her face as Adrian babbled on._

_Adrian was backing away a little now, holding the book in front of him like a shield. "Umm…I-Its not like I blame you or anything…All that stuff happening in my body at once…I'd get pretty moody too…heh-heheheh………"_

_Adrian would swear until the day he died that he saw steam coming out of Maria's ears. The book soon found itself sailing through the air by Maria's hand and making a satisfying splash in the ocean. Adrian had fell on the ground, and was slowly crawling his way backwards, fearing that his life would come to a slow and painful end as Maria slowly stalked toward him with fists clenched and a deranged look in her eyes._

"_YOU…YOU…ERGH…ARRRGGGHHHH!" Maria found herself on top of Adrian with her hands around his throat. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU! I'M GONNA KILL YOU TILL YOU'RE DEAD!"_

"_Can't…can't…breath…Maria…ack!"_

* * *

Maria massaged her temple at that memory, she'd never been so embarrassed before in her life. They had gone back to Maria's house because Annet invited Adrian over for dinner. Adrian was quiet the whole way back, figuring it would be better to keep his mouth shut and only speak when he was spoken too. Maria didn't feel bad about the incident until Annet asked Adrian where those red marks on his neck came from. She didn't realize she strangled him _that_ hard, so she apologized. She didn't apologize about the book though, she felt quit justified in getting rid of that cursed thing. 

The days went on pretty much the same. The two hung out together, continued training together with Jun, and Maria kept winning ninety-five percent of those matches. The girl towered over the boy in height, she being a healthy 5'8" and Adrian being a scrawny 5'3". The others were starting to wonder if the boy would ever grow up because he hadn't grown an inch since the day he got there, and Maria was leaving him in the dust. That was until Adrian was about fourteen and a half years old, and hit what seemed like the largest growth spurt on human record. After all was said and done Adrian towered over Maria at 6'3".

Maria noticed quite a few other changes in him. Annet noticed as well and teased Maria relentlessly about it, telling Maria that the boy had grown into a rather handsome young man. Maria wouldn't deny it though, because he had. Jun's training had chiseled his body; making it fit, lean, and muscular. This in turn started turning the tables in the sparing matches, and Adrian's days of reckoning had finally come, but that wasn't the biggest surprise for Maria. She hadn't known the full extent of all that changed until they were training on one very hot day. Adrian had opted to take his shirt off because of the heat, and she practically chocked on the water she was drinking. _"Abs, biceps, and a very broad chest. Since when did he have those?"_ Unfortunately this had her distracted all day long, making her lose pretty much all of the matches. More unfortunate was that Jun had noticed Maria's reaction, and wasted no time in joining in with Annet to tease her about it.

Two could play that game though. She upgraded her normal training outfit, which consisted of a normal t-shirt and baggy shorts, to something that showed a little more curves and cleavage than necessary. It had the desired effect though, and she tried to look as innocent as possible as she watched Adrian's eyes widen and face turn pink. Jun had to throw in his two cents of course, and yelled something at Adrian about 'watching out for those nose bleeds'.

She had tried, but she couldn't resist the urge after that to flirt with and tease Adrian whenever possible. He would get so flustered and it always made her laugh. But things were changing between then, and she could tell it. She would often find herself staring at him and admiring, only to quickly look away before he caught her. She knew he did it too because she caught him a few times, but she never said anything about it. They started having what you would call 'awkward moments', and she sighed as she remembered the most recent one.

* * *

_"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Adrian asked as he stood on the very safe ground, watching Maria climb a very unsafe looking tree._

_Maria looked down from the branch she was balancing herself on. "Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?"_

_Adrian rolled his eyes. "Oh, I don't know. The fact that you could fall and break your neck at any moment."_

"_Oh, quit being such a baby, it's perfectly safe. And besides, the view from up here is great."_

"_If you say so…"_

"_I do. Now shut up and let me concentrate."_

_Adrian did as she told him, and contented himself with looking out over the sea at the sunset, until he heard a loud snap and a screaming Maria. No time was wasted, Jun had done well in training him. Every part of his dark power kicked in all at once, and before he knew it he caught Maria in mid-air, twisting around so he would take the fall, and landed hard on his back with Maria on top of him._

"_Are you alright?"_

_Maria was disoriented. One second she was climbing a tree, the next she was lying on top of Adrian, staring into those blood red eyes. "Wha-what happened? Why are you in 'Vampire Mode'?"_

_Those blood red eyes narrowed, and a sarcastic tone accompanied the strange rough sound his voice took on when in 'Vampire Mode'. "You almost fell and broke your neck._

_Maria blinked for a few seconds. "Well, guess it was a good thing you were here, huh?"_

_Maria watched as the red seeped out of his eyes, returning to their normal color and going back into 'Human Mode'. Adrian laid his head back, letting out a breath. "Yeah, guess it was."_

"_Thanks. You alright?"_

"_Yeah."_

_Maria took a few moments to get her bearings and finally noticed the position they were in. She looked up to Adrian, who seemed to realize the position they were in as well. She stared into those eyes, absorbing every detail about them. They started as blue on the outside and faded into green toward the pupil, with little lines of golden brown running through them. They looked almost like the marbles that kids play with. "So, these are what hazel eyes look like…" she thought to herself as other parts of her body was absorbing other types of information; the feel of his arms holding her, the way his body felt pressed beneath her, his warm breath tickling their face. Hyne, their faces were so close together…_

_Adrian was doing much of the same information gathering; her crystal blue eyes, the scent of her perfume, the way she felt in his arms, her hands on his chest, she was so…soft. Her breath was warm on his face. He took a moment to look down at her lips, small…pink lips… Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear Jun screaming at him, telling him to do something, anything but just lay there and stare at her like a dumbass. _

_Adrian finally broke the silence with a hushed voice. "Guess…we should head back."_

_Maria blinked, coming out of her trance. "Yeah…don't want to tempt fate twice in one day."_

_Neither of them moved for a few moments._

"_I…sorta can't get up."_

_Maria blinked, then blushed. "Oh…sorry." She said as she got up off of him._

"_No problem." Adrian got up and dusted himself off._

_The two walked back home, completely silent._

* * *

Maria sat on the edge of her bed, staring off into space as she recalled the memory. She wondered if Adrian felt what she did that day, or if he felt anything at all. She always worked herself up with worry thinking like this, but she couldn't help it any longer. She had tried not to, but she found herself becoming more and more attracted to Adrian every day, and sometimes she would catch herself 'entertaining' thoughts about him. She fell backwards on her bed and started thinking out loud. 

"I wonder…does he feel the same way? What if he doesn't think of me that way at all? We grew up together…he probably just thinks of me as a big sister. I'm seventeen, he's fifteen…Two years older than him, that's not a bad thing, right? …I'll be an adult two years while he isn't…that would be illegal in some places…ARGH."

Maria had decided that enough was enough. Something needed to be done, she needed to know now, she needed to take the initiative, because she felt that if she didn't she would most likely tackle and molest the poor guy. She walked over to her dresser, thinking out loud some more.

"I'm going to the beach, so I might as well take a swim. And if I'm going to swim, I might as well take a bathing suit along." She pulled out a drawer, and searched through it, finally pulling out a rather small piece of fabric and grinning. "And if I'm going to take a bathing suit, I might as well take the skimpiest on I've got. This should get Mr. Adrian Tepes' attention."

Putting on the suit she studied herself in the mirror and posed, thinking to herself with a smile, "I hope he doesn't forget how to breathe."

She put on her normal clothes over the suit, grabbed the towels and the basket full of sandwiches and drinks, and made her way to the beach.

* * *

Adrian was in the shower, thinking, as he often did in the shower. The shower was a nice place to think about things. The water helped you clear your mind, and it was private, so no one could disturb you. Well, they could, but most people were smart enough not to look in the shower when they could hear it running. But that's beside the point. 

In this shower thinking session there was only one thing on his mind, a certain blonde haired girl. He sighed as he turned the water off and got out to dry himself off. Wiping away the mirror he stared at himself and started thinking out loud.

"I wonder…does she feel the same way? She probably doesn't even think of me that way… I'm just a kid to her…nothing more than a little brother. Sure, she flirts and teases, but…is it just teasing? That day she fell out of the tree and I caught her… Hyne, she felt so good… She probably thinks I'm some kind of pervert now after that. Richter's right, maybe I've hung around Jun too long. Starting to act like him… I could literally hear him cheering me on…" Adrian closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them again, staring into the blood red eyes that looked back at him in the mirror. "Besides, who'd want to be with some vampire freak…URGH."

Adrian walked out into his room and went to his dresser looking for something to wear, heaving out a long-suffering sigh.

"Might as well not hope for something that's never going to happen…"

Finally dressed, he made his way out the front door, meeting Jun along the way.

"Where you off too?" Jun asked.

"Maria, picnic, beach."

"Hmm, sounds fun. Might get to see her in a skimpy bathing suit." Jun said with a sly grin.

"I wish…." Adrian said under his breath, not loud enough for Jun to hear.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Later."

Jun stood at the door as he watched Adrian walk down the road and slowly nodded his head.

"You'd think those two would just go ahead and do something. I mean, they're pretty much the only two youngins' around here. Unless they want to go and marry someone that's thirty years older than them, there's not many more options around here."

Jun walked toward the clinic part of the house, waiting for his appointment to show up.

"I swear, those two are more stubborn than a ranch full of mules…"

* * *

Maria was in the middle of setting out the food when she noticed Adrian walking up. Something was different about him. 

"You tied your hair back."

Adrian reached behind him and held up the ponytail. "Yeah, never tried it before. You like?"

"Yeah." She said. _"I like it a lot…"_

Adrian joined her, and they were soon eating, engaging in idle conversation about everyday life. They continued talking about anything they could think of afterwards while laying back and watching the sky. Maria decided it was time to take that swim, and looked over at Adrian.

"Hey, you bring a swim suit?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

Adrian narrowed his eyes. "You know very well why not."

Maria blinked for a couple of seconds, and then rolled her eyes. "Oh Hyne. You're not still hung up on that little incident are you?"

Adrian closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Yes, I'm still 'hung up on that little incident'."

"Geez, you're such a big baby."

* * *

_A nine-year-old Adrian stood on the little rocky cliff that Maria was using to dive into the lake below, looking down into the water below and swallowing hard._

"_Come _on_ already." Maria said from behind, getting impatient._

"_C-can't I just get in from the shore?"_

"_Why would you want to do that?"_

"_W-well…I-its just that…"_

"_Come on, trust me. This will be fun. You're not afraid are you?"_

"_No! I-I just…"_

"_Well, if you're not afraid, then in you go!" And with that Maria shoved Adrian from the cliff and into the water below. She stood on the edge to see him when he came up. She stood there waiting…and waiting……and waiting………_

"_He should've come up by now…"_

_Maria dove in, and a few moments later pulled a coughing and gasping Adrian from the water._

* * *

Maria could feel the glare she was getting from Adrian. 

"I said I was sorry."

Adrian 'hmph-ed' and looked away.

"How was I supposed to know you didn't know how to swim?"

Adrian looked back, eyes still narrowed. "You could've asked before you pushed me off that cliff."

"You could've told me before I pushed you off the cliff."

Adrian looked away again. "I was embarrassed, okay? And I really didn't want to give you something else to tease me about."

"I wouldn't have teased you. I could've taught you. I can teach you now."

"No thanks."

"Why not?" Maria started whining.

"Because, Like I said, I didn't bring a swim suit. And besides…"

"Besides?"

"Besides…I'm…afraid of the water now…"

Maria stared at him for a few seconds, and then fell backwards, laughing out loud. Adrian looked around, glaring at her and gritting his teeth.

"What's so damn funny?" he snapped.

Maria couldn't answer from laughing so hard, so Adrian let out a growl and looked away, deciding to ignore her for the rest of the day if he had too. Maria spent a couple of more minutes rolling around and giggling until she got it out of her system. She crawled over to Adrian, still snickering.

"I'm sorry."

"…"

"Adrian?"

"…"

"Oh, come on. Don't be like that."

"…"

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to laugh like that."

"…"

"Come on, look at me. Please?"

"…"

Maria sighed. "Fine, be that way. You sit here and brood all you want. I'm going for a swim."

"…"

Maria got up and purposely stood in his line of sight. _"Ignore me will he? Let's see him ignore this." _Maria started taking her shirt off, making sure to take her time doing it. Adrian's eye drew themselves over to her, taking in the view. Creamy, porcelain skin… Flat stomach… Perfect, full, round breasts… She started taking her shorts off then, and Adrian's eyes widened. _"Oh Hyne…A thong… She's wearing a hynedamed thong…" _Maria kicked the shorts to the side and stretched her body, making sure to give him a good view. She looked over at him, getting his attention, and winked. _"Gotcha." _She thought to herself as turned and walked toward the ocean, putting a sway in her hips.

Adrian watched her walk away and noticed that sway in her hips. _"A perfect hourglass shaped figure…argh!_" Adrian lay back on the ground and threw his arm over his face, covering his eyes.

_"Why does she do this to me? First the teasing, then the flirting. Does she know what she's doing to me? Does she want to drive me insane? I can't take much more of this."_

Adrian lay there, loosing track of time, letting his mind wonder. He kept replaying Maria's little 'show' through his head, remembering every detail of her body. _"Hyne, I've got to do something. What do I do? I'm gonna go crazy…" _More time passed, and Adrian felt someone sit next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't uncover his eyes though, he knew it was Maria, and he would have to deal with seeing her in that little white bikini if he uncovered his eyes.

Maria looked down at Adrian and felt bad. He looked pretty upset. _"I must annoy the hell out of him with all of my teasing and flirting, but I don't know how else to get his attention… Maybe if I just talked to him…"_ She squeezed his shoulder.

"Hey, you alright?"

"Yeah…"

"I'm sorry. I really am."

Adrian let out a sigh. "Don't worry about it."

"_Well, at least he's talking to me again."_ She thought. The distant rumble of thunder could be heard, and Maria looked up into the sky.

"Looks like its gonna rain soon."

Adrian uncovered his eyes and let his arm fall to the side, looking straight into the sky. "Yeah, looks like it…"

Maria looked down at him, staring at him for a few moments. _"This is it girl. Now or never. Put up or shut up. Time to make your move."_

"You know, now that I think about it, I don't think I like you're hair tied back."

"Why not?"

Maria began pulling the band that held his hair back out, letting it flow over the towel that he was laying on.

"Because then I couldn't run my fingers through it…"

Adrian finally moved his eyes over to Maria as she ran her fingers through his hair, letting them relish in the soft, silky feel. He noticed how her hair hung limp from her swim, still dripping water. He noticed the way her skin glistened with the moister from the ocean. He noticed how her face was now inches from his, and his eyes locked with hers.

"M-Maria…?"

Maria said nothing and closed the gap between their faces, closing her eyes and meeting his lips with hers. She took his bottom lip in between hers and massaged it, letting her tongue run across it. Then she took both of his lips in between hers, suckling lightly and letting her tongue run in between them.

Adrian lay there motionless with eyes wide, and couldn't respond at all from the shock from what was happening. His mind was in chaos, thoughts forming and crashing into other thoughts as he just lay there, not even able to make a sound.

Maria stopped kissing him after a few moments and looked into his eyes, trying to find some sort of reaction, trying to read his feelings. All she found was confusion and shock. She looked away and closed her eyes.

"I……I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…" She couldn't finish her sentence, so she did the only thing she could do. She got up and ran away, in tears.

Adrian continued to lie there; the shock from what just happened had lessened enough to where his mind could form coherent thoughts. _"Wha-What the hell just happened? She kissed me…then she ran away. Was she crying?" _Adrian finally found the strength to get up. _"I've got to find her." _And so he took off trying to catch Maria.

* * *

Maria ran down the path that connected Winhill to the beach, tears steaming down her face as her mind screamed at her. _"You're a fool. You're a damned fool. What in the hell did you think you were doing?"_

She continued running as fast as she could, eyes clouded by her tears. Not watching where she was going she tripped a fell. She lay there on the ground, sobbing out loud now, as the rumble of thunder was heard again and the rain started to fall.

_"Great, this is just great. The perfect end to the perfect day."_

She slowly picked herself up and continued running. The rain fell harder now, and she found shelter from it under a tree off the side of the path. She leaned against the tree with her arms and buried her face in them, continuing to cry as her mind scolded her.

_"You made a fool of yourself. You went too fast, too early. He hates you now you damn fool girl."_

"Maria!"

Adrian finally caught up to her and stopped a few feet away, bending over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He looked up when she didn't respond. She was still facing the tree, face buried in arms, and the sound of soft sobs coming from her. _"So, she was crying."_

Adrian walked up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Maria."

Maria shook him off, and started walking down the path again. "Leave me alone Adrian."

Adrian began following her. "I don't understand. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. Go away."

"Nothing's wrong? You kiss me, then you run away crying? I hardly think nothing's wrong."

Maria turned around, facing Adrian for the first time. Long white hair wet from the down pour clung to his face, eyes still shown through though, filled with confusion.

"I'm sorry. Okay?"

"Sorry about what?"

Maria looked down, refusing to look at him. Adrian walked up to her, but she backed away from him.

"Maria…talk to me. Please."

"You don't understand Adrian."

"Understand what?"

"My feelings… I can't deal with this anymore"

"What feelings?"

Maria looked up, anger and frustration started seeping out.

"My feelings for you! Okay? I have feelings for you! I'm around you everyday, every night! But I can't do anything about it! Do you know what if feels like wanting something, having it there right in front of you, and not being able do a damn thing about it? That's what I can't deal with anymore Adrian! That's what you don't understand!"

Adrian was silent, standing in the rain and not moving, staring at Maria. _"I don't understand? Hah!"_ Adrian began laughing to himself, and Maria's head shot up, shooting him a glare.

"What's so damn funny?"

Adrian shook his head, chuckling lightly to himself. "If you only knew…"

It was Maria's turn to look confused. "Only knew what?"

"Being around you everyday, every night. Having what you want standing right there in front of you and not being able to do anything about it. I understand that all too well Maria. I live through that torture everyday."

Maria's eyes widened. "Wha-?"

Adrian walked up to her, eyes narrowed and teeth gritted. It was his turn to release some anger and frustration.

"Torture. That's what I go through everyday Maria. You told me I don't understand, when the truth is you're the one that doesn't understand."

Maria was confused again, and Adrian went on.

"I spend everyday with the object of my affection, and everyday she tortures me. She talks all sweet to me, sends me suggestive smiles, lightly rubs by me when passing in the hall, flirts, and when she's got my hopes up she plays it off as simple teasing and laughs at me. Do you have any idea what that feels like Maria? Do you have any idea what you do to me?"

Maria's eyes were wide again. "Adrian…I…"

Adrian wasn't finished though. "But it's all in good fun, isn't it? I'm nothing more than a little kid to you, only good for teasing and getting a few laughs out of. But more than that, I'm just a little kid that happens to be some vampire freak of nature. No one would want to be with someone like that."

"Tha-that's not true!"

Adrian let his power surface to prove his point, eyes, fangs, and all; and began shouting. "THEN TELL ME MARIA! WHO? WHO THE HELL WOULD WANT TO BE WITH SOMETHING LIKE THIS?"

"I WOULD!"

They were both silent, nothing but the sound of the rain hitting the ground could be heard. Adrian uttered one simple word.

"Liar."

Adrian walked past Maria, heading back for Winhill until Maria grabbed his arm and turned him around.

"I'm not lying! I teased and flirted everyday! I tortured you everyday! But it's the only thing I knew to do! It's the only way I could get your attention!"

"There are plenty of other ways to get my attention."

"I know that! I know that now! And I'm sorry, but I can't take back the past!"

"Then what Maria? Where does that leave us?"

Maria looked down, taking deep breaths and trying gather up her courage.

"I'm falling for you Adrian. My brave little apple thief has grown into a handsome young man and, hynedamnit, I'm falling in love with him. I can't help how I feel anymore. This is how I feel. This is what I want. I want _you _Adrian. I…I want to be with _you_…"

Adrian watched as Maria buried her face in her hands and her body started shaking with the sobs coming from her mouth. He let the power go away, making his eyes and teeth return to normal, and walked up to Maria, holding her tight and running his fingers through her wet hair. He spoke softly into her ear.

"If that's what you truly want, then that's what you'll get."

Maria buried her face into the crook of his neck and wrapped her arms around him tight, letting out all of her pent up emotions as Adrian continued running fingers through her hair. He made soft shushing noises in her ear and rubbed the lower part of her back with his other hand. He spoke softly to her again.

"It seems like I've been falling for you forever. I lay awake every night wondering what it would be like to hold you like this. I think about you every minute of every day. I was afraid to make a move though; afraid it would hurt our friendship. You're my only friend Maria, my best friend. I would die without you. That's why. That's why I didn't do anything." Adrian kissed the side of her head. "But I can't help how I feel anymore either. I want _you _Maria. I want to be with _you_…"

Maria lifted her head from his shoulder, looking at him with eyes red from tears. Adrian looked into her eyes, moving his hand from her hair to caress her face, wiping away tears with his thumb. He moved his head forward slowly, and their lips met again. Using his tongue he softly caressed her lips, and then lightly pressed it against her teeth, silently asking for permission. She opened her mouth, deepening the kiss, and moaned lightly as his tongue explored her mouth, running across the top of it and meeting her tongue. Adrian's mind was in chaos again, but a good kind of chaos. Both of his arms now wrapped around her, holder her body tight against his. Maria's arms found their way around the back of his neck, trying to hold on as her knees threatened to give out from the intensity of the kiss. They stayed there for what seemed like ages, both exploring and savoring the sweet taste of each other, both experiencing new feelings and new sensations for the first time.

They broke the kiss slowly with eyes still closed, resting they're foreheads against each other, each trying to catch their breath. Adrian noticed that her body didn't feel as warm as he had expected it to feel. He opened his eyes and noticed her shivering. _"Of course."_ He thought. _"She's standing out in the middle of this rain storm in nothing but a swim suit. Come to think of it, I'm getting cold too."_ He kissed her on the forehead once and kept his voice at a whisper.

"Come on, let's get you back before you freeze to death."

Maria opened her eyes and realized for the first time that she was cold, very cold. She nodded silently to Adrian's suggestion, and they both made they're way back home.

* * *

They both made it in just as the proverbial bottom fell out of the sky. Neither had seen it rain this hard before, nor had they seen the winds blow this hard before. Both were dripping wet, and Maria was shivering so hard she could hardly move. 

Adrian sat her down in front of the fireplace, lit it, and went into the back room to find a towel and blanket.

"I'm gonna call Jun and let him know where I'm at." He said as he wrapped Maria in the blanket. She looked over, still shivering hard.

"O-o-k-kay."

Adrian made his way to the kitchen, grabbed the phone, and dialed the number.

"Hello?"

"Jun, its Adrian."

"Adrian! Where the hell are you boy? It's a mini-hurricane outside."

"They're called tropical storms. Anyway, Maria and me got caught in it and ran to her place. That's where I'm at now."

"I see. Well, no sense in trying to make it back in this. You might as well wait it out there. From what the news report says that'll be sometime tomorrow, and its gonna get worse before that."

"Right. I'll see you later then. Bye."

"Oh! Adrian!"

"Yeah?"

Adrian could literally hear him smile and cringed when he let out a singsong voice.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Adrian let out an exasperated sigh "Do you ever get your mind out of the gutter?"

Adrian held the phone away from him as Jun let out a hearty laugh.

"You know what I mean boy. Good night."

"Good night."

* * *

Jun hung up the phone and took his hat and raincoat off, tossing them in the laundry room where they made a small puddle on the floor. He was going to beach to warn the two about the storm when he got caught in the storm himself out in the field. That's when he saw them; standing out in the middle of the field in the worst storm he'd seen in years, sucking face like there was no tomorrow. 

He walked into his kitchen to make a pot of coffee with the biggest, goofiest grin on his face.

* * *

Adrian had the same idea, and walked out of the kitchen with two cups of coffee in his hands, giving one to Maria as he sat down beside her. She nodded her thanks and sipped at the warm liquid. 

"You alright?" Adrian asked.

"Yeah, I'm a little warmer now."

Adrian nodded as he looked back into the fire, and then he noticed something.

"Where are Richter and Annet?"

"Richter had some business in Deling. I convinced Annet to go with him and spend a few days. They hardly ever get any time to themselves, and I kinda wanted them out of my hair for a little while. I love them and all, but it's nice to have the place to yourself sometimes, you know?"

Adrian nodded. He liked the old fart, but he cherished the days he would spend away on business, leaving Adrian to himself.

Maria looked over and noticed Adrian was still in his soaking wet clothes, and he was shivering pretty bad himself.

"You should get out of those clothes or you're going to catch a cold."

Adrian looked over and blinked for a moment. "I…don't have any spare clothes here."

"That's okay. You can get under the blanket with me." Maria smiled a little and blushed. "Besides, they say body heat is the best cure of hypothermia."

Adrian was turning red now too, but he slowly nodded and got up to undress. Maria watched as he kicked his shoes off and took his shirt off. She couldn't help but stare at his body. When he took his pants off she smiled to herself. _"Hmm, a boxers man."_

Adrian got under the blanket with her and she snuggled up to him, laying her head on his shoulder as he rested his head on top of hers. The held each other and gazed into the fire, neither uttering a single word.

Maria thought about all that had just happened. It felt so good to finally get everything out. And knowing that he felt the same way about her made her feel like she was floating on air. She drew closer to him, nuzzling his neck, and let out a content sigh as his arms drew tighter around her.

Her mind played though all of her memories like they had earlier that day. All of the good and bad times they shared. All of their little misadventures together as children. Each and every event drew them closer and closer as bonds were tested and strengthened. The next words that came out of her mouth felt so natural that she didn't realize she said it until a few moments afterwards.

"I love you."

Adrian looked down, seeing her smile and a dreamy look in her eyes. He closed his eyes and drew his mouth close to her ear.

"I love you too."

She drew him into another deep kiss as her hands started exploring his body. Fingertips lightly traced over muscles, making them quiver in reflex. His hands explored too, tracing up her side, eliciting a moan of pleasure out of her. She fell backwards to the floor, bringing him down with her. She broke the kiss and looked into his eyes.

"Then prove it."

A hint of confusion drew across his face. "Huh?"

She continued to look into his eyes as she ran fingers through his hair.

"Prove it. Make love to me…"

He stared into her eyes, losing himself in them, and drew in for another long kiss.

On that night, as the rain pored and the winds blew outside, two souls connected in the ultimate expression of love. The only sounds in the room were the soft moans of pleasure and the lazy crackling of the fire.


	5. Prologue Part 5

**Smoke and Mirrors**

**Prologue – Part 5**

Two years; it had been two years now since that stormy night. Maria lay in the bed of that room at the Deling hotel reminiscing of that night. He was so nervous, so timid; afraid that he was going to do something wrong or even hurt her in some kind of way, but she had never felt more alive than she did before that night, and it was all because of him. She had to admit, the whole act of it was awkward their first time. _"But,"_ she thought as a smile crept onto her face, _"we've had _lots _of 'practice' since then." _Like they say, 'practice makes perfect'. And she let out a low, sultry purr as she thought about the things he could do to her now.

They had made the decision to let the others know they were 'together' a couple of days later. Jun didn't seem the least bit surprised when they told him; acting as if he already knew with a knowing smile on his face. How he knew before they told him was beyond Maria. The man just had a strange way of knowing things like that. Annet was thrilled; flashing each of them a smile in such a way as to say 'it's about time'. Richter, clueless as he always was, was floored by the news, but was happy for them nonetheless.

Maria let her thoughts wonder as her gaze moved slowly across the floor of that hotel room. They were in Deling that day getting supplies for Jun like they've been doing once every couple of weeks for that last year and a half. Jun had started making Adrian go and get the supplies for him, reasoning that he was too old for all that travel now, and the boy needed to see more of the world outside of Winhill. Maria found any excuse she could to go with Adrian on these trips; excuses ranging from 'wanting to go shopping at the big city stores' to just 'wanting to see the big city'. Richter and Annet had half-heartedly objected to her going with Adrian alone; knowing full well what young people in love were capable of doing when left by themselves, especially when the trips took so long that they had to stay a night or two in the city. But Jun waved off their concern, telling them that Adrian was a responsible person and that Maria was an adult now and could do as she pleased.

"_If they only knew…"_ she idly thought as her gaze continued to travel across the floor, going from the door and tracing the articles of clothing that lay scattered across the floor all the way to the bed. Her gaze lifted from the floor to the walls surrounding the room, noting the wall hangings and the light fixtures. Then she saw something peculiar, and blinked a few times. _"Talk about 'in the heat of passion'," _she thought. _"How did my panties get up _there_?"_

She felt the warm body that shared the bed with her stir then, and a strong arm encircled her from behind. A low, soft groan sounded next to her ear, and the warm breath that blew across it made her spine tingle with delight as she snuggled back into him.

"Morning." Maria greeted.

"Morning." came Adrian's groggy reply.

"Sleep well?"

Adrian's arm tightened around her as he answered in between the kisses he gave the back of her neck. "How could I not? You've got a talent for wearing me out."

Maria giggled and snuggled closer. They both lay there for a few moments before Maria broke the silence.

"Hey. You think the others know what we _do_ on these trips?"

Adrian shrugged. "Who knows? I'm pretty sure Jun does." She could feel his lips pull into a smile against her neck. "Nothing gets past the old coot's ears. And with the way you were carrying on the other night, I'm sure he and the neighbors heard."

Maria jabbed him playfully with her elbow. "Don't flatter yourself."

Adrian lightly chuckled. "As for Richter and Annet, is it really any of their business? We don't go asking them about their sex life."

"True." Maria said as her hand interlocked fingers with his hand that was lightly tracing circles on her stomach. "Annet might know with the way _you _carry on sometimes. Richter though, I doubt he could hear a dump truck crashing through a nitro glycerin plant when he's asleep."

Adrian's only response was his trail of kisses going from the back of her neck to her shoulder. Maria finally twisted her body around to face him and pulled him into a deep kiss, breaking it moments later as her hand swept away the hair that feel across his face.

A half grin drew on her lips. "You know what? I think this is going to be one of those two day trips."

Adrian's eyebrow quirked as the same kind of grin grew on his face. "And why is that?"

Maria only shrugged as she continued to grin. "Just because."

Adrian closed his eyes as the fingers of his hand drew lazy circles on the lower part of her back. "Sounds good to me."

"Good." She drew his arm from around her as she rolled over and sat up. "I'm going to get a shower."

She heard him let out a low, deep purr. "Need some company?" he asked.

She bent over to kiss his forehead. "No thanks. I want to actually finish this shower."

She laughed as he pouted and gave him a quick peck on the lips before she got out of the bed and made her way to the bathroom. Adrian lay there and admired her naked backside until she disappeared into the bathroom. Rolling over he rested the back of his head in his hands and let his gaze slowly circle the room. He stopped and blinked as he saw something quite peculiar.

"_Now how did her panties get up _there_?"_

* * *

Annet sat in the front yard of her home as she watched Richter work on the motorcycle he had 'taken as a souvenir' from one of the Galbadian military bases when he retired. Richter loved that motorcycle, often referring to it as 'his baby'. Annet wouldn't admit it, but sometimes she felt jealous of the thing.

Feeling a little ignored she decided to start up a conversation.

"I wonder what Maria and Adrian are doing now."

Richter only shrugged as he reached for a wrench behind him. "Who knows? Doing whatever teenagers do I guess."

Annet sat there and thought for a moment. "They spend an awful lot of time up there by themselves… You don't think they…?"

Richer blinked. "You don't think they what?"

"You don't think they…you know?"

A light chuckle was heard from the other side of the motorcycle and Richter looked back. "What are you laughing at old man?"

Jun's head popped up from behind the motorcycle; smudges of motor oil and grease spotting his face. "I don't think my dear. I know."

Annet's eyes grew wide, and Richter continued to blink in confusion.

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Richter asked.

Jun let out an exasperated sigh. "You really are a numbskull aren't you Belmont? What do you think two teenagers who are in love and by themselves in a big city are going to do?"

Richter blinked. "I don't know. Go to a club? Party? Watch a movie? Go to a coffee shop and drink a cappuccino while listening to some weird goth poetry?"

Jun's hand found itself slapping his forehead as he groaned and nodded sadly. Annet crept over to Richter and put her hand over her mouth as she whispered what Jun and her were talking about into his ear. Richter's eyes went wide as he dropped his wrench.

"WHAAAT?"

Jun wiped his face off with a rag and studied the two. "You two seriously didn't know there were doing that?"

Annet's eyes were still wide, and her face was started to turn pink. "Well, no, not really. I thought they would…Hyne, I don't know…"

Jun stuffed the rag into his pocket and crossed his arms. "Geez, you two really are dense. Those two have been going at it like rabbits for a while now. In fact I suspect its been going on since I caught them making out in that field during the storm."

Richter was still on the ground, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. "That long? How do you know?"

Jun grinned. "My ears hear all my friend."

Richter was making incoherent noises now, and Annet looked like she was about to faint.

"Ar-aren't they a little…young for that?" she asked.

Jun put his hands on his hips and gave the two a look through squinted eyes. "No younger than two people I know that went and eloped against their parent's wishes."

This shut Richter up for a few seconds, and made Annet turn even redder.

"We-well, I was in the military and about to go to war. That's different!" Richter said.

Jun waved a hand to calm the two. "Bah! You two are making a mountain out of a molehill. There's nothing wrong with them doing that. They're in love, let them be."

Annet was biting on her fingernail now. "Well, I guess it really isn't any of our business… They were going to eventually if they hadn't already…"

Richter slowly nodded. "Yeah, I guess. As long as they show some responsibility…"

Jun nodded. "Don't worry about them. I'm sure they take every precaution necessary." And with that Jun ducked back down and started working on the motorcycle again, letting out a little chuckle as he did so.

"What's so funny now old man?" Richter asked.

"Oh, nothing really. Just remembering the way Maria was carrying on the other night. Adrian must be quite 'skilled'." Jun let a toothy grin pop up on his face as he heard Richter drop his wrench again and what sounded like Annet finally fainting and falling over.

* * *

It felt like someone was cutting Adrian's skull open with a dull, rusty knife. The loud music, the bright flashing lights, the thick fog of cigarette smoke; it all played hell on his heightened senses and was giving him the worst headache. But he would endure it because Maria loved this club, and would insist on dragging him there every time they went to Deling. He watched as she danced along to the loud techno music, getting lost in the beats and rhythms and letting them dictate how her body moved. He would've enjoyed it he thought, as her body pressed against his, moving and grinding together to the music the DJ was playing. The one hundred and something other people out there on the dance floor seemed to enjoy it, but the blasted headache wouldn't let him. It had gotten so bad that his vision was starting to get blurry, and he felt like he would vomit at any minute.

After about the tenth song Maria noticed his predicament. He was a lot paler and usual, and looked like he was going to be sick.

"Hey! You alright?" she screamed over the loud music.

All Adrian could do was shake his head no and point to the door. Maria nodded and followed him out.

Outside Adrian leaned against the wall of the club, letting the cold temperature of the bricks seep into his ailing body and try to sooth the growing feeling of nausea. He closed his eyes and massaged his temples trying to calm the headache that now felt as if a T-Rexaur was stomping on his head. Maria walked up too him with a look of concern on her face, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Got sick again?"

Adrian nodded slowly as he took a few deep breaths. "This wouldn't be so bad if they didn't have to play the music so loud and have all of those flashing lights."

She laughed. "But that's what makes a club a club. It wouldn't be fun without that."

Adrian groaned. The cool night air was making him feel better, and the headache was starting to die down. "Fun for normal people maybe…"

Maria watched him slide down the wall to sit on the ground. His fingers were still massaging his temples as he finally opened his eyes.

"Don't they have a club that plays normal volume music with no strobe lights and doesn't smell like a bathroom?" he asked.

She sighed as she sat down next to him. "You're no fun."

He sent her a sideways glance as she put her arm around his shoulders and smiled.

"But I love you anyway."

He turned his gaze back across the street. "Thanks…I think."

She chuckled as she put her head on his shoulder. "You know I'm kidding you."

One of his hands took hers as his other continued to rub as his temple. The headache had dulled down to an annoying buzz now.

"So, want to do anything else? The night is still young." She asked.

"Let's go for a walk. I need the fresh air."

"Okay."

Hand in hand they walked down the streets of Deling, taking in the sights and browsing though shop windows. They had managed to ignore most of the street vendors trying to sell their merchandise to them, all except for the ice cream vendor. She flashed him the 'puppy dog eyes' and he sighed to himself as he reached for his wallet. _"I'm so whipped…"_

She got her ice cream cone and they continued walking as she noticed him giving her a weird look.

"What?" she asked.

"That guy had fifty flavors. And you order vanilla."

"What's wrong with vanilla?"

"Seems kind of…plain."

She had a look of mock hurt on her face. "Oh. So now you're saying I'm plain."

Adrian knew what she was doing and simply rolled his eyes.

She started sniffling, trying to keep the smile off her face. "You don't love me anymore."

Adrian said nothing as they continued walking.

She sniffled some more. "Fine then. I'll just go back to that club and find myself another guy."

Adrian turned around, grabbed her by her hips, and pulled her forward against him.

"You're not going anywhere." He said in a low, lusty growl into her ear.

Maria continued to eat her ice cream as she tried her best to ignore the kisses on her neck. She started giggling as the kisses got higher and started tickling her. And she nearly dropped her cone when he took her ear lobe in between his lips..

"Stop it. We're out in public."

"So?" he breathed into her ear.

"So? What if someone walks by?"

"Then they can watch."

She laughed and pushed him away. "You've been around Jun too long you perv."

He pulled her back against him. "You're calling me a perv? I can remember quite a few suggestions you've made that would blow anything Jun could come up with out of the water."

She held her nose up. "Oh really? I didn't hear you complaining."

He started in on the other side of her neck now. "Because I'm not dumb enough too."

She tilted her head to the side to give him better access. "You better stop. My ice cream is gonna melt and I'll make you buy me another."

"Hyne forbid." He stopped and they resumed their walk. After a few minutes they reached the Deling Park and found a bench in front of a water fountain where they sat down. Maria leaned against Adrian as his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

Maria stared at the fountain as she started talking. "Hey Adrian, you ever think about the future?"

"Sure."

"What do you imagine in you're future?"

Adrian took a few moments to reply. "You, me, a two story house out in the country with a white picket fence, and 2.5 children."

Maria's eyes went wide as she looked up at him. "Are you serious?"

Adrian started laughing. "No. I'm not saying it wouldn't be nice though. I don't really know what I want in the future." He pulled her closer and rested his head on top of hers. "All I know is that I want you in it."

Maria snuggled up and drew her arms around him. Adrian looked down and asked her the same question.

"What do you imagine in your future?"

Maria gazed at the fountain as she idly played with a lock of his hair. "Besides having you in it, I don't really know. But…"

"But?"

She looked up at him and smiled. "But…I've always wanted a little girl…"

Adrian was quiet for a few moments. _"She wants children… That must mean…" _He smiled and fingered the small velvet box in his pocket. _"Tomorrow, by that tree where we had our first kiss. I'll…" _

Maria interrupted his thoughts. "Hey. You got quiet all of a sudden…"

"Huh?"

She looked down. "You…don't want children?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then…what are you saying?"

Adrian sighed. This would take a delicate answer. "I'm saying…that if I'm going to be a father…I'd want you to be the mother."

She looked up as her eyes softened and smiled. He smiled back as he drew her into a kiss. _"Damn, that was close."_

As the kiss broke Maria sat back and stifled a yawn. "We have to leave early tomorrow, we should get back to our room."

Adrian nodded and helped her up. They walked hand in hand again down the street back to the hotel. Maria hooked her arm into his and laid her head on his shoulder, thinking to herself. _"Tomorrow, I'll tell him tomorrow." _ She gently rubbed her stomach, thinking about the new little life that was growing inside of her.

* * *

Annet sat in bed reading the book that Maria had bought her on her last trip to Deling. She thumbed through a few pages as Richter walked into the bedroom, combing and drying his hair from the shower he took. Annet glanced up briefly at him as he joined her in the bed, continuing to skim through the pages as she talked.

"Looks like they made it a two day trip. Wonder what they're doing."

Richter lay back, sticking his right hand under his head. "Believe me. After today's revelation, I'm trying not to think about it."

Annet lightly chuckled. "Well, you have to admit, now that you think about it, it was pretty stupid of us to assume they weren't doing anything like that."

"Yeah, guess you're right." Richter sighed as he closed his eyes. "Young love…" He cracked open one eye and looked at Annet with a grin. "I remember what that was like."

Annet scoffed. "You speak as if we're old now."

Richter shrugged. "We're not young anymore."

Annet placed the book on the nightstand as she took her glasses off. "Well you, Richter Belmont, may be going over the hill. But I assure you, I've just barely started to climb it."

"Hah! Says you." Richter turned toward her and propped his head up on his fist. "I saw you rubbing your back and groaning the other day. Those old bones of yours telling you its gonna rain?"

She playfully punched him in the shoulder. "I'll remember that when I'm picking out which rest home to put you in."

"Ouch." Richter drew his arm around her and laid his head down on his pillow. "Just as long as you're there too so I can chase you around in my walker."

Annet rolled her eyes as she turned off the lamp and snuggled close to him. "Whatever. Good night."

"Good night."

Richter broke the silence after a few moments. "You know, they have motorized beds. That'd save us half the work."

Annet pinched his arm. "Go to sleep you old pervert."

……….

In the kitchen, a mouse was making its nightly journey across the counter top. Its ears twitched as it heard a strange sound. After it looked around for a few moments it went back to searching for food crumbs, ignoring the slight hissing sound that was coming from the stove.

* * *

A girlish giggle could be heard coming form the bathroom of the hotel room. 

"Quit it. That tickles."

Maria was trying to rinse the soap from her body. Trying a failing because Adrian's hands kept interrupting her.

Adrian rested his chin on her shoulder from behind and spoke in a low, lusty tone into her ear as his hand crept lower. "Does this tickle?"

"Ack!" Maria spun around with wide eyes, and then narrowed them as she smirked. "You dirty, dirty boy."

Adrian pouted. "I've been bad."

"Mmm-hmm." Maria's arms snaked around the back of his neck, keeping her voice low and sultry. "You need to be spanked."

Adrian could barely keep the smile off his face as he made his bottom lip tremble. "I'll be good. I promise."

"Don't you dare." Maria purred as she captured his lips with hers, gnawing on his lower lip and letting out a growl. Adrian's hands were on her hips, holding her body close to his as his fingers massaged the flesh on her thighs. He turned and pinned her against the shower's wall as he switched his attention to her neck and collarbone, leaving a trail of kisses as his hands began to move again. One moving up slowly toward her breast as the other moved slowly down...

"Oh…Hyne." She breathed. One of her hands buried its fingers in his wet hair, grabbing hold and tugging at it gently, while her other hand slowly made its way down his back, tracing along his spine and muscles. She felt his body stiffen as he let a husky growl into her ear, and started kissing at the sensitive skin behind her ear, making her lightheaded.

"Le-lets get out of here." she whispered, almost too low to be heard over the sound of the running shower.

"Bed?" Adrian asked in a whisper.

Maria drew in a sharp breath as she closed her eyes and her head fall back against the wall. _"Hyne those hands are...oh..."_ "Ye-yeah."

They broke apart long enough to get out of the shower, drying each other off slowly with the think white towels as lips met and tongues danced. The towels dropped carelessly to the floor as she took his hand and led him out of the bathroom to the bed. She turned to him as they reached the bed, grabbing him and falling backwards, causing him to fall down on top of her as their lips met again. Hands explored for a few moments before Maria's legs locked themselves around his waist and her fingernail dug into his shoulders as they started their lovemaking.

……….

Adrian had his head hung low and eyes closed, trying to catch his breath and slow his heartbeat, hands pressed into the bed on either side of Maria supporting his weight. Looking up through white banes he stared at the woman below him; golden hair spread out across the bed, eyes were closed, lips were parted from rapid breathing, face was a light shade of pink, and arms were spread out with hands clutching at the bed sheets. He couldn't take his eyes off of her as light from the moon peeked from behind the clouds and flowed through the window, making her golden blond hair light up and the porcelain skin of her face glow. She opened her eyes then, and the way her crystal blue eyes reflected the moonlight took his breath away.

She looked up at him as her hand slowly traced its way up his arm to his face. Her brow creased a little and the side of her mouth quirked up in a half grin.

"What?"

Adrian blinked, coming out of his daze. "Huh?"

"Why are you looking at me so weird?"

Adrian grinned and he looked at her with soft eyes. "Sorry. I was just…mesmerized."

One of Maria's eyebrows quirked up as she gave him a smile. "Mesmerized? By what?"

Adrian's hand came up to caress the side of her face. "You." His gaze slowly lowered, noting how the rest of her body was glowing in the moonlight, then slowly looked back to her eyes. "You're beautiful."

Maria's eyes seemed to twinkle as her other hand came up to his face and slowly pulled him down. "You certainly know how to lay it on thick don't you?"

Adrian chuckled as he was pulled down. The hand that was caressing her face went behind her head, cradling it as his other hand moved to caress the other side of her face.

"Maybe. But I know you love it." He whispered.

She met his lips briefly as the fingers of one hand ran through his hair and her legs unlooked from around his waist, sliding down and intertwining with his own.

"Guilty as charged." She murmured.

They lay like that for what seemed like ages, both simply holding each other as they regained enough strength to get under the covers. Maria's arm draped across him as her head lay on his chest, lulled to sleep by the steady sound of his beating heart. Adrian lay there staring out the window at the moon as his fingers slowly brushed through her hair.

"_A full moon…"_ he thought to himself as his eyes closed and sleep took hold.

* * *

The man walked down the streets of Winhill that morning like he did every morning. He loved this time of day. The people were out and about, getting everything prepared for their daily rituals. The tiny little town actually looked busy at this time of day.

The man had a purpose this morning other than just taking a leisurely stroll though. There had been reports of monster sighting on the outskirts of town for the last couple of days, so a small group of citizens had decided to go and do some monster hunting before the situation got out of hand. That was why the man found himself at the Belmont's front door this morning. If they were going monster hunting, they'd need the best monster hunter in town.

The man knocked on the front door for a few minutes without getting any response from inside. He even tried yelling out, but there was still no answer.

"_The hell?" _the man thought. _"Its almost noon… You'd think they'd be up by now…"_ The man knocked a few more times, and there was still nothing but silence.

Feeling that he knocked and yelled loud enough to wake the dead, the man just shrugged and went back to his morning walk.

"_Guess they aren't there."_

The man hadn't made it that far down the road before he stopped. A chill ran up his spine and the little hairs on the back of his neck stood up. It was one of those feelings you get right before something bad happens.

He turned around…just in time.

* * *

Maria held on tight to Adrian as they sped through the after-noon air on their way back to Winhill on his motorcycle. Richter had found the thing in a junkyard somewhere in Timber and rebuilt it to give to Adrian on his sixteenth birthday. Most people thought the vehicle was beyond hope, but Richter, given his reputation for being quite clueless, was a mechanical genius. The thing operated as if it just came off the production line, finished and ready to sell that day. However, this motorcycle had nothing on Richter's 'baby'.

Maria let her head rest on Adrian's back as she looked out among the fields. Watching as the scenery whizzed by. She tried to fight back the combination of excitement and nervousness that was building up inside of her. _"Today's the day."_ She thought to herself. _"Today's the day I tell him. I wonder how he'll react. Will he be happy? He said he'd like to be a father…right? What if he wanted to wait until later? Oh man…"_ Her eyes closed as she tightened her grip.

Adrian's thoughts were running along the same lines as he felt Maria's arms tighten around him. _"Oh man… Today's the day. Today's the day I'm gonna ask her. Wonder what her reaction will be when I drop down to one knee and pull out this ring. We love each other. We've been together for two years. Hell, longer than that considering that we practically grew up together."_ He fought against the nervousness that was making his stomach do flips and sighed. _"This day can't get over with fast enough…"_

They were close now; Winhill was just over the horizon. Adrian took a few deep breaths to calm himself as they sped down the dusty road, climbing last hill as the village came into view. Adrian looked up and squinted his eyes as he saw something strange. _"What the hell?" _Easing off the throttle he let the bike slow down some before putting on the break and coming to a stop. Maria looked over his shoulder as she lifted the visor on her helmet.

"What's up?"

"That." He pointed toward the village as he lifted up his own helmet's visor. "Is that…smoke?"

Maria squinted her eyes. "Yeah… Looks like something big is on fire."

They were both silent for a few moments, wondering what could be causing that much smoke. And a dreadful feeling started welling up in the pit of Adrian's stomach.

"We better go and check it out." Adrian said as he lowered his visor along with Maria, revved the motor, and took off toward the village.

* * *

Adrian would never forget the horrific sight that stood before him, not until he was dead and buried. 

He had noted the look of panic on the villager's faces as he weaved his way though the town. They were all running in the same directing, screaming and shouting at each other. It didn't take much for him to realize something had happened. Something bad.

But this…

"Oh Hyne…"

Before him stood Maria's house, or what was left of it, engulfed in the biggest fire he had ever seen. It seemed that all of the townsfolk had gathered to watch, each wearing the same look of numb shock on their faces as he was. The town's only fire engine was there, along with what seemed like half of the town's citizens forming a bucket brigade, trying to put out the fire that seemed to ignore them and only grew bigger despite their efforts. He felt the motorcycle under him shift and saw a helmet fly to the side and onto the ground before he realized what was happening, and when he did he took off, trying to catch Maria.

Maria ran into the crowd looking everywhere she could for Annet and Richter; asking the people gathered there if they had saw them, each person she asked had answered no. She continued her frantic search for what seemed like an eternity, but there was no sign of them in the crowd, and no one had seen them at all that day. Grim realization finally sat in, and she bolted towards the burning house.

Adrian finally caught up to her and tried to hold the frantic woman back.

"What are you doing!"

"They're still in there!" she screamed.

"Wha-?"

Maria spun around, and the look of fear and panic in her eyes made Adrian's heart drop to his stomach.

"Annet and Richter are still in there! I couldn't find them anywhere out here! No one has seen them! They're inside the house!"

Adrian grabbed hold of her as she turned back around and tried to run toward the house.

"You can't go in there! The house is almost completely destroyed! If they're still in there then…"

"No! They may still be alive! We have to get them out!"

"Maria! You can't…"

"Let me go!" Maria shouted as she broke free of Adrian's hold, shoving him hard enough to make him stumble back and fall down. She looked for any way she could to get in, but all routes seemed to be blocked by fire or debris, all except for the garage.

Adrian picked himself up off the ground in time to see Maria running toward the garage and took off after her to stop her. He was halfway there when something made him stop in his tracks.

Dark powers rose to the surface, warning him of danger. His now more heightened sense of hearing detected a faint hissing sound. Eyes became blood red; strengthen his vision, piercing through fire and smoke, trying to confirm the warning. That was when he saw it…

The acetylene tank to Richter's torch; it was inside the garage. The hissing sound was coming from the tank, getting louder and shriller by the second.

And Maria was so close to it…

"MARIA!"

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Adrian ran as fast and hard as his inhuman speed would allow. He tried yelling out to her to warn her. Tried to make it there in time to knock her out of the way. He was almost there; he was so close. Just a few more feet…

……….

The next thing Adrian knew was that he was laying on his back. Eyes blinded by the bright flash of the explosion and ears almost too deaf from the thunderous sound of it to hear the screams of the townspeople around him.

He rolled over, trying by the sheer force of will to make his eyes re-focus. The blurry image of the now destroyed garage came into view, slowly getting clearer as he tried to force himself up. Pain shot through his left arm like fire, forcing him to the ground once more. He looked over, noticing for the first time the piece of shrapnel that had imbedded itself into his arm. Gritting his teeth, he took hold of it and yanked it out, yelling as its jagged edges ripped flesh even more, and tossed it to the side.

He got back to his feet shakily. The townspeople gathered there were running everywhere, screaming and shouting. Some were dragging others that got caught in the explosion away, trying to get them to safety. He looked to the bodies of those injured, the smell of burnt flesh and blood making him sick. He turned back toward the house, eyes scanning the area franticly, but not finding what he was looking for. Maria was nowhere to be seen.

"_No…"_

With his right hand holding the wound on his left arm he ran back toward what was left of the garage. Panic filled him as he searched. Still, Maria was nowhere in sight.

"_No."_

Finally, he smelt something familiar. He would remember that scent anywhere. The times they played together as kids and she fell and scraped her knee or elbow. The times she got cuts and scrapes in sparing practice with Jun. He remembered that sent, and it almost made his heart stop.

It was the scent of Maria's blood.

"_No!"_

He followed the scent, letting it lead him through the think haze of the black smoke, tripping and stumbling over the debris the explosion had thrown out as he went. The scent was getting stronger now, causing him to run faster as he got closer. He continued to follow the trail, hoping against hope and trying to kill any bad thoughts of what he would find as soon as it came to his mind. It was so far away; had the explosion thrown her this far back?

He spotted something on the ground not too far away and ran towards it. It was a body, lying face down on the ground. The first thing he noticed about the body was the blonde hair. The second thing was the large, gaping wound in the side of her abdomen, and the blood that was flowing from it.

**_"NO!"_**

Adrian dropped down to his knees at Maria's side, turning her over gently and holding her up in his arms. The grim reality of her condition hit him like a ton of bricks. There were cuts and burns all over her body. The wound in her side looked like something had clawed away the flesh. And she was bleeding so badly.

He yelled for help as he held her limp body, trying to make himself loud enough to be heard over the screams of those that were still there. She was so pale; she'd lost so much blood already. He tried applying pressure to her wound, trying to stop the bleeding, but it wouldn't stop. He was screaming for help now, getting more and more desperate as the seconds went by.

"A-Adrian?"

Adrian stopped and looked down as Maria's eyes fluttered open and her face twisted in pain.

"Maria?"

"It…it hurts."

Adrian bent down, touching his forehead with her, trying to calm her.

"I know. I know it does. But you've got to hold on. You're going to be alright."

Adrian looked up again, screaming for help once more as Maria closed her eyes and gritted her teeth against the pain. She grabbed for his hand, squeezing it to get his attention.

"Its…no use…"

Adrian's head snapped down; tears now stinging his eyes as he held her closer.

"Don't say that! Please don't say that. You're going to make it! You've got too!"

Maria slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him. The tears were flowing freely down his face now. The hand that was holding his slowly went up to the side of his face.

"I-I'm…not."

Adrian was openly sobbing now, holding his head close to hers as he gently rocked her back and forth.

"Hyne, no. You can't leave me. Please. You can't leave me."

"I'm sorry…Adrian…"

"No!"

Maria looked up at him, slowly smiling.

"Its…alright. Doesn't…hurt so bad…anymore…"

"No. This can't be happening. Don't leave me. Please…"

"Adrian… Listen to me…"

Adrian opened his eyes and looked into her's. Maria's breathing was getting shallower, and her words were getting softer.

"I…love you."

Adrian closed his eyes again as the tears flowed faster.

"I love you too…"

Maria closed her eyes, she was starting to feel lightheaded.

"Listen…to me… Promise me…something"

Adrian opened his eyes. "Anything…"

"Promise me…that you'll…live…"

Adrian shook his head back and forth. "I can't. I can't. Not without you. Please…"

Maria opened her eyes again., everything looked fuzzy. "Adrian… Promise me… Please…"

Adrian choked back a sob. It took everything he had to make his voice work.

"I…I promise…"

Maria smiled, and Adrian continued to stare at her as he gently rocked her back and forth. She looked so pale now…

Maria's head inched forth and her lips met his in one last kiss. He could sense her breathing was getting slow. He could barely hear her heart beat.

The kiss broke, and Maria took one last look at him.

"Love you…my…brave little…apple thief…"

Adrian continued holding her close and rocking her as he felt her hand slip away from his face.

"Maria…"

He couldn't feel the breath from her lips on his face anymore.

"Maria!"

He heard her heart give one final beat.

"Maria!"

Her head fell back as her body went limp.

"MARIA!"

Adrian buried his face into her neck, taking in the feel of her skin against his and the scent of her hair one last time. He kissed her again, but she didn't kiss back. She was gone.

Maria was dead.

Adrian began to tremble, his teeth gritted and his eyes shut tight. The dark power, the monster within, stirred, awakened by the emotions that were flying though it's master. It saw what he saw, felt what he felt.

The only person in this world that had ever openly accepted it without hesitation, the only person in this world that ever loved and cared for it, the only person in this world that did not fear it on some level, was dead.

The monster within cried out along with its master, sharing in his loss, adding its voice to his own and becoming one in a thunderous scream. The villagers there would swear to this day that they heard a demon's cry that day, a demon's cry that was filled with pain, sadness, anger, and agony. It was so loud and heart wrenching. And it scared the living hell out of every one of them.

"Adrian!"

Jun had arrived just in time to witness it. Oh, how he would never forget that sight. Adrian, on his knees and holding a lifeless body in his arms, with his head thrown back and fangs bare, letting out the most painful inhuman scream he had ever heard. He walked forward, noticing for the first time who the person was in Adrian's arms.

"Oh Hyne. No…"

Jun knelt down in front of them, moving a shaking hand towards Maria's neck, hoping that this was all just a nightmare.

He felt no pulse.

Jun lowered his head, closing his eyes as the tears came, and joined Adrian in his grief.

* * *

Jun leaned against his doorframe as he watched Adrian walk slowly across the front yard toward his motorcycle, with his bag and the sword Jun had just given him in hand. He closed his eyes as the events of the last week played through his head again. 

……….

_The investigators from Deling had confirmed that the initial explosion that caused the fire was caused by a gas leak from the stove. The gas ignited when the thermostat on the refrigerator came on. He remembered that Annet had been bugging Richter for a little while to get an electric stove…_

……….

_The funeral was held two days later. Annet and Richter's bodies were burned so badly that they had to have a closed casket ceremony for them; Maria's was open though. He sat in that room during the wake near her casket, greeting the mourners and sharing stories of the three. He looked up with everyone else as Adrian entered the room, and they all became silent. _

_Adrian slowly made his way to Maria's casket, not looking at or acknowledging anyone else's presence. Jun eyed him cautiously as he stood in front of the casket, taking something out of his pocket. It was a ring, a simple gold band with a diamond set in it. Adrian stood there for a minute studying the ring, and then reached into the casket, taking Maria's hand and placing the ring on her finger. With that Adrian left the room, as quietly as he entered, with everyone in the room still silent and staring at him._

………

_The coroner had contacted Jun a day later with her report. Annet and Richter were dead long before the explosion happened, dying peacefully in their sleep from the gas that filled the house. Maria had bleed to death from the wound in her side cause by a piece of shrapnel from the second explosion. The coroner had one more piece of news though, and it both shocked and saddened the old man so much more._

"_You are Adrian Tepes guardian, right Mr. Arikado?" _

_"Yes, I am."_

"_And he was romantically involved with Maria Renard?"_

"_Yes, he was."_

"_Then I can only assume that he is the father…"_

_Jun almost dropped the phone as his eyes went wide. "Ex-excuse me?"_

_The woman on the other end was silent for a few moments. "You…didn't know sir?"_

"_Know what? What's this about him being 'the father'?"_

_Jun heard her let out a sigh on the other end of the phone. "I'm so sorry sir. Ms. Renard...was pregnant..."_

_Numb. That was all Jun felt at the moment. Numb._

"_It was a girl…"_

_Jun eyes closed has his hand covered his face._

"_Sir?"_

_Jun blinked and spoke in a shaky voice. "Y-yes. Thank you. I must go now. Goodbye."_

_Jun hung the phone up and leaned against the wall as he rubbed his eyes._

"_Oh Hyne… How do I tell him?"_

………

_But Jun couldn't tell him though. Adrian had been completely silent the whole week. He looked and acted as if he were detached from the rest of the world. The old man feared this news would push him over the edge, so he kept it to himself for now._

_Jun knew the time was coming, and he was sitting in his living room when he heard the knob of the front door turn._

"_Leaving? I figured you would've done so sooner."_

_Jun turned in his chair and saw Adrian standing at the front door with his bag slung over his shoulder._

_Adrian just stood there with his head bowed low, and murmured the first words he had said all week._

"_I have too…"_

_Jun walked up to him, putting a hand on his arm and sighing._

"_I know boy. Everything here reminds you of them…of her. It reminds me of them too…"_

_Adrian was silent as he stared out of the window of the door. Jun turned toward his kitchen, beckoning Adrian to follow._

"_But before you do, there is something we need to discuss."_

………

"_Sorceresses…" Adrian whispered._

_Jun nodded. "Yes. It was always mine and Richter's belief that a sorceress had a hand in your 'uniqueness'."_

"…_and you believe it was Adel?"_

_Jun nodded again. "Like I said, I fought those vampires Adel summoned forth in the Battle of Centra. And their abilities were quite similar to yours." _

_Adrian looked down. "But…isn't she dead now?"_

_Jun sipped at his coffee. "No. The resistance in Esthar only managed to capture and contain her. We don't know anything else though. Esthar has been closed off to the outside world ever since the end of that war."_

_Adrian looked back up. "Why tell me this now?"_

_Jun sat his cup of coffee back down. "To give you a purpose. I didn't want you to go off wondering the world aimlessly. This is your chance to find out how you came to be. And maybe get some closure to your mother's death…" _

_Adrian shot Jun a glare. "I never told you anything about that."_

_Jun gave him a sad smile. "These walls are paper thin my boy. I overheard your confession to Maria that night…"_

_Maria. He had confessed so much to her, and now she was dead._

_Jun got out of his chair and walked slowly out of the kitchen. "Follow me my boy. There's something I want to give you."_

………

_Adrian blinked. "That's…"_

_Jun turned around and held the sword up, unsheathing it a few inches and letting the metal shine in the light._

"_This is Muramasa."_

_Jun handed Adrian the sword. It was long, curved, and thin. But it was lightweight, well balanced, made out of one of the strongest metals known, and the edge was sharp…very sharp._

_Adrian held it up for a few moments, studying it. "But…this is one of your favorites…"_

_Jun crossed his arms. "Which is why I'm giving it to you. You will need something out there, and I know this weapon's power. It will serve you well as long as you take care of it."_

_Adrian looked at it for a few more moment and nodded, tying its sheath to his side._

_They stood there in the room, both silent, trying to think of something to say to the other. Adrian finally broke the silence._

"_I…guess I'll be going now…"_

_Jun simply nodded and followed him to the door. Both were silent all the way until Adrian stopped half way down the steps and looked back._

"_I'll…come back…one of these days…"_

_Jun smiled. "Be sure that you do boy. You know I love a good story. Make sure you have one to tell before you come back."_

_They looked at each other for a few more moments before Adrian nodded and walked off toward the motorcycle. Jun leaned against the doorframe and watched him go._

……….

Jun watched the motorcycle speed down the dusty road. So much had happened in that week. So many lives turned upside down and so many hearts broken.

"His especially…" Jun said to himself as he watched the dust kicked up by the bike drift up in the air.

Jun sat down on the steps leading up to his porch and looked up into the sky, letting a single tear slide down his old face.

"Forgive me Maria. I couldn't tell him. Couldn't break him anymore than he already was. Please…forgive me…"

**End Prologue**

**(Author's notes)**

**Whew, that was a long enough prologue, wasn't it? Guess I should've just made the first part the prologue and the last four regular chapters. But I wanted to get most of the background out of the way before the main story started and get people acquainted with Adrian and his character and motives. Now its time for the main story to start. About time! And don't you worry. We'll see some FF8 characters real soon.**

**Oh, not sure if most of you know or not. But Adrian is Alucard's real name. Says so in the SotN instruction booklet.**

**Anyway, I'd love to get some reviews and see what you think of this so far.  
**

****


	6. Chapter One Dollet Dealings

**Smoke and Mirrors**

**Chapter 1 - Dollet Dealings**

The woman noticed two things when she woke up. One, she had a splitting headache. And Two, she was bound to a chair and gagged.

She blinked her eyes and looked around, trying to figure out where she was, trying to make scenes of what was happening, trying to remember what had happened through the haze that clouded her mind. She remembered going to the convenience store to buy food for tonight's dinner. She was at the register, taking her billfold out of her purse to pay for it, and then…

"This is all your fault you know!"

"Would you give it a rest already? It's not my fault!"

She heard two voices to her left, and turned her head slowly, trying not to aggravate the pain that filled her skull, to see two men. One was a medium height man with short dark hair; the other was taller, with shoulder length blonde hair. She remembered now, she was about to pay the cashier when she heard a shout and turned around to see what was happening when a gun was pointed in her face. The tall blonde haired man aimed his gun at her, telling her to put her hands up, while the short dark haired man aimed his at the clerk, demanding the money from the cash register.

The clerk was calm during the whole ordeal, looking as though he'd been robbed at gunpoint before, and deliberately took his time at empting the cash register while hitting the silent alarm button under the counter. The woman was silent the whole time, fear gripping her as she stared down the barrel of the handgun. After what seemed like an eternity the clerk bagged all of the money from the register and handed it to the short dark haired man, just as the police sirens could be heard coming down the street toward the store. The dark haired man cursed, and the next thing the woman knew was a sharp pain in the back of her head, and then nothingness…

The fear came back to her as she looked around, taking in her surroundings as she struggled against the rough ropes that held her hands together behind the chair. She was taken hostage she concluded, and they were in what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. She pulled against the ropes as silently as she could, trying to use the two robber's argument as a distraction.

"This is your fault!" the blonde haired man whined and started mocking the dark haired man's voice. "'Come on man, this'll be an easy hit! The town is in all sorts of chaos from that SeeD thing yesterday at that tower. They'll never know what hit them!' Good plan man, real good plan. Did you plan on taking a woman hostage and running from the cops too?"

"I said SHUT UP!" the dark haired man snapped and started pacing. "We just need to come up with a new plan, that's all. The cops didn't see us run out the back, they don't know where we are yet. We just have to keep cool and get the hell out of here as fast as possible."

The woman looked on at them, making sure they didn't turn around and notice as she tried to flex her fingers enough to untie the ropes. She looked up at the light shinning through one of the windows on the top floor and noticed just how old and dusty the place was for the first time. It was quite dusty in fact, it filled her nose as she breathed and a tingling sensation started inside one of her nostrils. She closed her eyes, trying to fight back what she knew was about to happen, but there was just too much dust in the air.

Both men turned around quickly as they heard the sneeze. She looked up at them, eyes going wide with fear as they made their way over too her. She had a few ideas on how this situation would end, and none of them were good.

"Looks like our guest decided to wake up." The blonde man said as he turned to his partner. "What are we going to do with her?"

The dark haired man crossed his arms. "Take her with us of course. She's our ticket out of here. The cops won't do anything stupid if we have her with us."

"But…what do we do with her after that?" the blonde man asked as he looked back at the woman.

The woman drew back as far as she could as the dark haired man approached her, noticing the dangerous grin on his face as he got closer. "Oh, I may have a few ideas…"

"What are you talking about?" asked the blonde man.

The dark haired man looked down at the woman and traced the side of her face lightly with his finger as the woman flinched back. "She's such a pretty little thing. It'd be a shame to just let her go without having some fun with her…"

The blonde's eyes widened. "No way man! We're in enough shit as it is!"

The dark haired man looked back at his partner. "What are you worrying about man? Nothing wrong with having a little fun, is there?" The man looked back at the woman, drawing his face closer to her's as she turned her head away from his, tears starting to trail down her face.

"Oh, don't cry my dear." The dark haired man spoke softly into her ear. "We'll be real gentle. Who knows? You might even like it?"

"**If I were you, I'd follow your friend's advice."**

Both men spun around with guns drawn in the direction the voice came from.

"Who's there?" the dark haired man shouted.

In the darkness between two stacks of crates they saw a lighter flash to life and slowly lift up to light a cigarette. The light gave little away though, and all the two men could tell about the new mystery guest was that they had long hair. The lighter was extinguished, and all that was left visible in the darkness was the burning end of the cigarette as the mystery man took a drag off of it, blowing the smoke out from the darkness and into the light. He spoke again, in a smooth voice.

"**You're already in enough trouble as it is. No need to complicate things further by raping the woman."**

The blonde hair man stepped back, his gun still pointed in the direction of the burning cigarette. "Wha-what the hell's going on? Who are you?"

The cigarette brightened again, and another puff of smoke blew out from the darkness.

"**You two have caused quite the ruckus in Galbadia. Authorities from Deling and Timber are looking for you. And now Dollet has joined the hunt."**

The dark haired man was taking a step back now, gun pointed toward the darkness and shaking a little. "Wha-what about it? What's it to you?"

Another drag, and another puff of smoke.

"**But you two have done well in evading those authorities. Well enough that they were forced to post a reward for your capture."**

"Re-reward?" the blonde man asked.

"**Yes. Quite a large reward too. I could live easily off that much gil for months."**

"You…you some kind of bounty hunter?" asked the dark haired man.

"**You could say that."**

The blonde man began to panic a little as the dark haired man narrowed his eyes and spoke. "So, you've come to collect the prize then, huh?"

"**Indeed. I have."**

"Then collect this bitch!" The dark haired man fired his gun and into the darkness where the voice was coming from. He stopped when he saw the cigarette fall, rolling across the ground and out into the light.

The dark haired man let the clip fall out onto the floor as he loaded another one into his gun. "Hah! Fucking dumbass. Some bounty hunter he was."

"**Tsk tsk, didn't your parents teach you that guns are dangerous?"**

Both men spun around again, the voice was coming from up above now.

"Wha-wha-what the hell?" the blonde man yelled, swinging his gun around in the air and trying to pinpoint the voice's location.

"**I have to admit, at first I thought it best to not even bother with you two. You're rap sheets are less than impressive, especially when compared to the others that I've hunted. But as they say, gil is gil."**

"What the hell are you blabbering about?" shouted the dark haired man.

"**Robbery, assault, drug smuggling. Those crimes seem quite petty compared to the murderers, rapist, kidnappers, and terrorists I've come across. But you two must've rubbed some higher up the wrong way to warrant such a large reward."**

"Shut the fuck up asshole!" the dark haired man shouted as he fired his gun in random directions in the air.

"**My, testy aren't we? Tell me, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"**

The dark haired man was gritting his teeth out of frustration. "No! But I'll sure as hell do something to your mom with my mouth!"

The voice chuckled as the blonde man waved his gun around in random directions. It seemed the voice was coming from a different location each time it spoke.

"**Such crudeness. You should watch that language of yours, there is a lady present."**

The lady in question had forgotten her situation for the moment and joined the two robbers in their search for the mysterious man, turning and twisting her body as far as the ropes would allow her to search the rafters above.

The dark haired man had had enough and threw his arms out wide as he shouted. "Quit playing games damnit! If you claim to be such a badass then come out here and show yourself you coward!"

All was silent for a few moments. The dark haired man was fuming and breathing heavily. The blonde haired man was looking around in panic. And the woman just sat there looking up into the rafters, trying to make sense of what was happening. A few more moments of silence passed, and then came the mystery person's simple reply.

"**As you wish…"**

The woman would've gasped if it weren't for the gag in her mouth. Behind the two unsuspecting criminals she saw a dark figure slowly rising up. The figure stood to its full height and slowly raised it's head, and what the woman saw next made her involuntarily let out a muffled cry of fear.

She could've sworn, just for a split second, that the figure's eyes glowed red.

The dark haired man saw the look of surprise on the woman's face and instinctively turned around, only to be met with a fist square in the face that launched him into the air and across the floor. The blonde haired man spun around with his gun held out and felt a gloved hand clasp his wrist tightly, forcing him to aim the gun up into the air. The man's strength was immense, and the blonde haired man screamed out in pain as the mysterious man tightened his grip so much that the bones in his wrist snapped, making him drop the gun. The blonde man looked up into the other man's eyes, his own eyes wide in confusion and fear, and saw two very cold blue-green eyes starting back at him. The man looked back at him with a look of disinterest as it effortlessly lifted him into the air by his now broken wrist, and let out a low growl as he flung the blonde man with such force that the blonde felt his shoulder dislocate before he crashed into a stack of crates.

The woman stared on in awe at the scene before her. The mystery figure was finally revealed in the light coming through the many windows. There stood a tall young man with a lean build. Long white hair flowed down the sides of his pale skinned face and over his shoulders, reaching halfway down his back. He wore a simple red t-shirt and plain dark jeans with black boots. But the most striking of his attire was the long black trench coat that seemed to sway on a nonexistent wind. The woman's gaze slowly moved back up to the man's face, and locked with his eyes.

She blinked for a moment as she looked into those eyes. She half expected them to seem cold, but they weren't. In fact, they seemed to be anything but cold.

The did however turn frigid cold as the dark haired man groaned and picked himself up off the floor, holding his now broken and bleeding nose and letting out a string of curses. The man looked up at the long white haired man as he made his way slowly over to him, eyes narrowing as he continued to hold his nose.

"Who the _hell _are you?"

The white haired man looked at him for a moment, looking disinterested as he absently adjusted the sleeve of his coat and proceeded to speak in a matter-of-fact way.

"It would be easier for all of us if you just gave yourselves up peacefully, but I imagine that's an impossible request. People of your line of work are horribly stubborn, and terribly cliché."

The dark haired man growled as he tried to get to his feet. "You're a fucking smartass aren't you? But you're right about one thing; I'm not giving up. I've been in jail before, and I'll be damned if I go back anytime soon!"

The dark haired man made a grab for his gun and swung it up toward the white haired man, but before he could pull the trigger a bright flash of metal arched toward the gun. The dark haired man's eye widened in shock as the front half of his gun fell to the floor. The other half still remained in his hand, useless. He looked up to see the white haired man's right arm outstretched, and saw a very dangerous looking sword held tightly in his hand.

The white haired man lowered his arm and smirked at the man still kneeling on the floor in front of him. "Such poor craftsmanship. I hope you didn't pay too much for that toy."

The dark haired man dropped what was left of his gun and started backing away from the swordsman. His eyes flashed in fear and recognition; he had recently heard rumors of a new bounty hunter; very bad rumors. "You… I've heard of you…"

The white haired man followed him as he crawled behind a stack of creates, out of sight of everyone else. "Have you now? Am I that popular among the criminal circuit?"

The dark haired man found himself trapped between the bounty hunter and the wall as his mind swirled with fear and disbelief. "They…they say you're some kind of demon; that you're not human. They say you have the strength of ten men; and you're everywhere and no where at once, like you were just now… But…but it can't be, you're just a myth. You don't exist…!"

The white haired man reached down with his free hand and grabbed the dark haired man's collar, lifting him off of his feet and slamming him against the wall. He drew his face just inches to the fear stricken man's face and spoke softly. "Oh, I assure you…" he trailed off. The dark haired man's eyes widened at what he saw next. Blood seemed to seep into those cold blue-green eyes, and his mouth opened as he let out a low and dangerous growl, exposing fearsome fangs. Eyes now completely red bored into the dark haired man's eyes as the 'demon' continued to speak.

"I am no myth."

………

The blonde haired man woke with a start as he heard his friend scream. He scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could, stopping and hissing in pain as his right arm decided to remind him that its wrist was broken and its shoulder was dislocated. He didn't have time to examine it though as he heard his partner scream once again. It sounded like someone was killing him. _"Its…its that man with the white hair."_ He thought to himself. He looked over to the woman that was still bound to the chair and saw the panicked and fearful look on her face as she struggled against the ropes. He heard the scream of pain coming from the other side of the warehouse again and did the only thing he could think to do.

He ran away.

The blonde man burst out of the doors and ran as fast as he could down the path that ran along the side of the warehouse, muttering prayers to Hyne as he went along. He stopped and looked up as he heard something crash through a window on the top floor of the warehouse, and fell backwards and screamed as the body of his friend feel to the ground before him. The man was beaten badly; body covered in bruises, cuts, and blood. The blonde stared in shock at his partner's body as he heard footsteps slowly walk up behind him. He turned around and saw the white haired man, the one that had flung him nearly halfway across the warehouse as if he were a rag doll. The sunset was centered perfectly behind him, casting shadows over all of his features. All the blonde could see was his hair and coat swaying in the wind coming from the sea, and the long sword that he held in his right hand. The blonde panicked and shuffled back across the ground, holding up his uninjured arm toward the white haired swordsman that was still walking toward him and began pleading.

"Please! Don't kill me! I wasn't going to hurt her! Hyne, please!"

The white haired man stopped a few feet in front of him, looming over the blonde man as he reached for something in the pocket of his coat. He pulled out what looked like a bottle of powder, popped to top off of it, and waved it at the blonde, sending the dust into his face.

"Fear not. This won't hurt at all."

The blonde coughed as he breathed in the unknown powder, and promptly fell asleep on the ground next to his beaten friend.

………

The woman had almost managed to bite though the gag that was in her mouth out of fear and anxiety. She didn't know what was going on. First there was that white haired guy that showed up out of nowhere, who had taken down the two robbers with little to no effort. Then there was the screaming. The blonde guy got up and ran away. And then she heard something crashing through a window. Now there was complete silence, and that scared her more than anything.

Her eyes shot up as she heard the doors open and saw the white haired man from before walk in. He stopped for a moment and look around, and when he spotted her he walked toward her, unsheathing his sword. The woman's eyes widened, and as the man got closer she closed her eyes and bowed her head, shaking with fear and not knowing what was going to happen next. Her eyes remained closed until she felt the ropes that held her hands together pull slightly and was cut in two, releasing her hands. She looked up at him as he used his sword to cut away the ropes that held her feet, and used her now free hands to untie the gag from around her face and took a deep breath through her mouth. The man sheathed his sword and held a hand out toward her, silently offering it too her. She looked up at him for a few moments, and slowly took his hand, letting him help her up.

"Are you alright?"

The woman remained silent, staring at the man before her in wonderment, until a sharp pain in the back of her head made her stumble forward. The man caught her and held her up.

"Miss? Are you alright?"

The woman looked up, the image of the man before her got blurry as the pain flared through her head. She tried to speak.

"You…you…"

The man saw her eyes roll back and had to catch her again as she passed out. He sniffed the air for a few seconds, and turned the woman to see the gash that was on the back of her head and the blood that had dried in her hair.

"Damn." The man muttered to himself as he picked up the woman and made his way out of the warehouse.

* * *

The desk sergeant of the Dollet Police Department was busy trying to kill the last few minutes of his shift. It had been a long and hectic day. The clean up from yesterday's SeeD field exam had most of the cops working double shifts. The giant holes left in the walls of the stores by that giant metal spider had storeowners filing in reports of stolen merchandise from looters. The commotion from yesterday had the monsters nesting near the communications tower on the move and citizens were reporting sightings of them all day long. And to top it all off a convenience store was robbed and a woman was taken hostage, and the police had no clue where they ran off too yet.

The desk sergeant grabbed a doughnut out of the box sitting on his desk and leaned back with it and his cup of coffee in hand. _"Yep…" _he thought to himself, _"its been a loooong day… And we still don't have any leads on those robbers and their hostage"_ He looked over to the wall to see the wanted posters of the two robbers the store clerk had identified and chuckled lightly to himself. _"But with a reward like that, I'm sure someone will find them if we don't…"_

The sergeant had taken a sip of coffee and was about too take a bite out of his doughnut when the door burst open and a man walked in, a man with long hair and a long coat; dragging two unconscious men who looked like they had seen better days. The sergeant left the doughnut hanging in his mouth and gave the long haired man a cautious look as he threw the two unconscious men across the floor toward the sergeant's desk. The sergeant looked down at them for a few moments and then looked back up at the long haired man, giving him a questioning look. The long haired man took a moment to straighten his coat, then looked to the sergeant and pointed to the dark haired man lying on the floor.

"Adam Cole. Age 24. Wanted for robbery, assault, and possession of illegal narcotics with intent to sell. Reward, 15,000 gil." He then pointed at the blonde haired man. "Dan Stanley. Age 23. Wanted for robbery, assault, and possession of illegal narcotics with intent to sell. Reward, 15,000 gil." The long haired man lowered his arm and looked back at the sergeant. "That'll be 30,000 gil."

The sergeant looked down at the two criminals for a few seconds, then looked over to the wanted posters, and looked back to the long haired man and finally took the doughnut out of his mouth.

"These are the ones that robbed that store earlier today, right?"

The long haired man simply nodded.

The sergeant scratched his chin for a moment. "Didn't they have a hostage?"

The long haired man nodded once more. "Yes. I took her to the hospital on my way here. She's suffered a head injury. You'll need to wait to get her statement."

The sergeant slowly nodded as he reached for a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper, offering it and a pen to the long haired man. "You'll have to fill out this form for the reward."

The long haired man took the pen and form and began filling it out as the sergeant looked down at the two men on the floor. The blonde one, Dan, didn't look that bad; but the dark haired one, Adam, looked like he had been through hell and back. He looked back up at the long haired man as he finished filling out the form and took it from him.

"Alright Mr…. Adrian Tepes?"

The long haired man, Adrian, nodded.

The sergeant continued. "Well then Mr. Tepes, we'll just fax this to Deling and they'll wire the money to the account you listed here."

Adrian nodded and turned to leave. The sergeant looked down at the two men on the floor once more and called out to Adrian. "Hey. These two aren't dead are they? They haven't moved once since you bought them here…"

Adrian turned and gave a small grin to the sergeant. "No. But they will need to see a doctor when they wake up."

The sergeant looked back down at the men as Adrian left the police station, and chuckled softly as he got up from his seat to cuff the two men. _"Bounty hunters…"_ he thought to himself, _"gotta love them…"_

* * *

Adrian walked down the streets of Dollet with no real destination in mind, looking at the sights the city had to offer and turning his nose up to most of it. Dollet had never been his favorite place.

The people in Dollet had an aristocratic air to them, making most of them seem quite snobbish. The town had a monster infestation problem equal to and sometimes greater than Winhill's. The architecture just…well, it just wasn't his 'thing'.

And the town smelt bad too.

Adrian's nose twitched and a disgusted look came upon his face as he looked around. The place smelled of old fish and smoke. The old fish smell was easy to explain, the town was built on the northern coast of Galbadia, and fish was the town's leading source of income. The smoky smell though, that was unusual for this town, but it wasn't hard to figure out where it came from judging by the condition most of the buildings along the main strip were in.

He had came into town last night, following the trail of the two criminals he had just caught, and found most of the town laid to waste in the aftermath of battle. Smoke filled the night sky and the fires illuminated it. Rubble from destroyed buildings littered the streets along with wounded or dead Galbadian and Dollet soldiers. Adrian sat in the bar that was in the hotel he was staying at that night, quietly nursing his drink as his sharpened ears zeroed in on the conversations the other bar patrons were having, listening for any leads on his current bounty and maybe find out why the town looked like a herd of Behemoths stampeded through it.

He hadn't gotten any clues of the two criminal's whereabouts, but the bar was abuzz with conversations of a SeeD field exam and a battle at an old communication tower.

Adrian stopped as he got to the part of town where most of the fighting had occurred and looked around at the destruction. _"So this was a SeeD field exam…"_ Adrian thought to himself. He had heard of them before from Jun and Richter. SeeD was the elite military force of the institutions known as Garden; of which there were three. _"Military… More like mercenary." _He amended. Garden wasn't a non-profit organization. They required large amounts of capital to keep running. Meaning whoever needed the services of SeeD would have to pay quite a bit of gil. _"We're both a lot alike if you think about it. We both do dirty work for money_."

And the life of a bounty hunter was dirty work indeed. Adrian found himself in this career by accident really. Very soon after he left Winhill a year and a half ago he found that one needed money to live on their own. He spotted a store in Timber with a help wanted sign and walked in with the intent of asking for a job, but instead ended up making short work of the two guys who were robbing the old woman that ran the store by gunpoint. Adrian was presented with a sizable cash reward for the capture of the known felons, and realized that this could be turned into a very profitable living.

And a very easy one too, when you're a vampire that is.

He was doing good deeds for society and sometimes making ludicrous amounts of money for doing it. But Adrian had dove into this line of work without really thinking it through. The things he had seen and the people he had hunted down so far; murderers, rapists, terrorists, kidnappers, you name it and he has most likely caught it. He had dealt with the lowest examples of humanity on a daily basis. Things like that can change a person eventually.

After all that had happened in Winhill a year and a half ago and all that he'd seen and had to do since then, his faith in the world and everything in it was running on low. He still pressed on as best he could though, because he had too.

He promised her he would.

It wasn't all that bad he had to admit. He was kind of proud of this 'Demon' rumor that had started to spread in the criminal underworld. He'd also readily admit that he largely enjoyed playing with their heads before going in for the kill, like he did back at the warehouse.

So here he was, Adrian Tepes, bounty hunter extraordinaire at the tender age of eighteen. And even with the lucrative amounts of gil he was making off of this dirty business, he had nothing to show for it other than his motorcycle, the few clothes he carried with him, and the sword Jun had given him, Muramasa.

Adrian continued to gaze slowly around the street, noting the amount of damage done. All of the shops had structural damaged of some sort, one even had a giant hole in the front, as if something had burst out of the store. The pavement of the street and sidewalks were all cracked and crumbled. _"And this car…"_ he said to himself as he walked up to it. _"Looks like something…stepped on it…"_

He took one last look around before he started down the street once more. _"Some exam that must've been…"_

……….

Adrian could feel and smell the sea breeze before he even saw the beach. He stopped on the platform above the beach and leaned again the railing, looking out across the ocean and sunset as a frown grew upon his face. He purposely avoided beaches, they drew up too many memories; memories of an Adrian Tepes who no longer existed.

And besides, he'd never really gotten over his fear of the water.

But something was pulling him to this particular beach today, and he let his eyes roam across the length of the beach until he spotted a peculiar sight. There, almost in the exact center of the beach, was a large hunk of smoldering metal. Being the curious creature that he was, the bounty hunter soon found himself descending the stairs to the beach to investigate.

Whatever it was, he could easily tell how it died just by seeing all of the bullet holes that riddled its body. _"Some SeeD leftovers?"_ he asked himself as he looked around for any clues as to just what the big chunk of metal used to be. His gaze followed along the length of it up to where he supposed the head of this monstrosity was supposed to be. Finally spotting something just below the front part he crouched down to get a better view. It looked like an identification number.

"X-ATM092."

Adrian stood back up with his eyebrows arched up high and let out a low whistle. He'd heard of these things before. Galbadia's unmanned mobile attack weapons, AKA the 'Black Widow'. _"The last I heard these things were still in the prototype stages. They must've wanted that communication tower real bad to rush them to production." _Adrian thought to himself.

He looked at it for a while longer, noticing just how beat up the thing looked. Aside from what seemed like a million bullet holes there were burn marks and sword slashes all over it. _"And…is that…"_ Adrian blinked as he took a closer look, _"Is that…an imprint of someone's fist?"_ Adrian took one last look over the heap of metal. The pride and joy of Galbadia's military technology, reduced to mere scrap.

"_And they say these things are indestructible."_ Adrian chuckled to himself as he began to turn away. _"So this is all SeeD's doing… Impressive."_

Adrian looked out over the sea at the sunset, deciding to let himself enjoy the view just this once as he drew a cigarette from the pack in his pocket and lit it. Smoking was a habit he picked up shortly after he started bounty hunting. The job was a stressful one, and smoking was an easy, although unhealthy, way of calming his nerves. He leaned against what remained of the X-ATM092 as he watched the scenery and planned on what to do next. _"I should revisit the police station. Take a look at the wanted posters. Decide what my next target will be…" _

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the sounds of laughter. Looking over to his left he saw two children running along the beach and splashing in the water. One was a little boy who looked no older than eight years old. The other was a little girl, who was taller and looked to be a bit older than the boy. Adrian found himself staring at them as memories forced themselves into his mind. He could remember a time when he was that carefree and happy, playing on the beaches near Winhill with a certain blonde haired girl that was a bit older and taller than him, just like those two…

Adrian caught himself and immediately looked away, closing his eyes tightly and stopping the memories before they could do anymore damage. _"She's dead now."_ He told himself. _"And you… All that's left of the little boy is a chain smoking bounty hunter."_

Adrian gritted his teeth as he looked up at the sunset one last time and glared at it. He snuffed out his cigarette on the dead robot behind him and briskly walked away as he drew his coat tightly around him, making his way up to the platform and back into the city.

"_I need a drink…"_

* * *

The Dollet Pub was usually busy this time of day with people who were just getting off from work. It was a bit quiet today however, with the exception of a few regulars.

The bartender was musing over this as he dried the glasses with his rag. The clean up from yesterday's fiasco had everyone working overtime. If there was one thing the bartender learned, it's that Galbadian invasions are bad for business, not to mention SeeD field exams.

But he was lucky, seeing as his bar had escaped any damage. He remembered all the rubble he had to step over on his way to work. And he felt sorry for the poor guy that ran the tool shop. That shop was nothing more than a hole in the wall now.

He finished with the glasses and threw the rag over his should as he heard the doors open. And he, along with the bar patrons, looked up to see a man with a long coat and long white hair walk in. The bartender gave man a suspicious look as he sat down at the bar. This guy seemed a little young to be in a place like this.

"What can I do for ya?" the bartender asked as he walked up to the man.

Adrian looked up as he took a cigarette out of his coat pocket. "Whisky."

The bartender gave him a funny look. "You sure you're old enough to be drinking that?"

Adrian gave him a cold look through narrowed eyes as he pulled some gil from the other coat pocket and held the bills up to the bartender's face. "Old enough to pay for it."

The bartender looked at him for a few moments and reluctantly took the gil. Something about the man was very intimidating, and a little scary. "Whisky it is then."

The bartender sat a glass in front of Adrian and poured the drink as Adrian lit the cigarette and leaned back in his chair, giving a glance around at the other people in the bar.

Adrian could feel a few sets of eyes staring at him, but thought little of it as he downed the whisky in one go and sat the glass back down on the bar. "Keep them coming." He called out to the bartender as he took the first drag off his cigarette.

"Yes sir." The bartender replied as he refilled the glass and went back to cleaning. The bar patrons that were staring at Adrian lost interest and went back to what they were doing, leaving Adrian to drink his second drink a little more slowly this time. His peace was disturbed as one of the customers in the back at a table shouted out to the bartender.

"Hey Mac! Turn on the TV! The game is on!"

The bartender, Mac, grabbed the remote from behind the bar and turned the TV on. Adrian idly watched the basketball game with little interest as he signaled Mac for a third drink, and was halfway through with it as the TV started getting fuzzy and looked as though it had lost the signal.

"Ah hell Mac, did you forget to pay the cable bill again?" the same customer from before shouted.

Mac looked back at the customer and mocked his voice as he walked over to the TV. "No Harold, I didn't forget to pay the cable bill again." Mac changed the channel, but the same distortion was on every station. "What the hell?" he grumbled as he started hitting the side of it. The image became clearer, but what they saw now certainly wasn't the basketball game they had all been watching.

"T-Testing...1...2... Testing... Testing... Ohhhh! P-People of the world! Can you see me? Can you hear me? Oh, this is incredible!"

"What the hell is that fatass doing on the TV?" the loud customer, Harold, shouted across the bar once more. Adrian became a little more interested in the TV now and lifted his head to get a full view.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a recording! This is an actual broadcast over the air! Yes, it's been 17 years since a live broadcast has been possible!"

"Live broadcast?" Mac asked as he threw his towel over his shoulder and leaned against the bar near Adrian.

The fat man on the TV looked over to his side and nodded. "Oh, please excuse me… I seem to have lost my composure. We would like to present to you today a message from the lifelong President of Galbadia, Vinzer Deling. Ladies and gentlemen, President Deling."

The TV had Adrian's full attention now, and everyone in the bar was standing near the bar for a better view. Everyone knew who Vinzer Deling was, and no one liked him. Adrian found himself frowning as the President walked up to the podium and began speaking.

"Greetings, I am Vinzer Deling, lifelong president of Galbadia. Today, I stand before you to make the following proposition. We the people of this world have the power to end all wars."

"What the hell is this shit? They took the game off for this?" Harold whined as Mac motioned for him to be quiet.

"Unfortunately, there are some trifling problems standing between Galbadia and other nations, and they must be resolved…" The President trailed off as he looked to the side. The sound of something breaking in the studio could be heard, but the President continued. "I plan to convene with other nations' leaders immediately to resolve these problems. At this time allow me to introduce the ambassador who will be my representative for the conference."

Mac rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. "Is this why those fools were killing themselves over that tower yesterday?" he asked as Adrian looked down for a moment to finish off the rest of his drink.

"The ambassador is the Sorceress..."

Adrian almost choked as he swallowed the last bit of whisky. _"Sorceress… Did he just say 'sorceress'?" _His question would go unanswered though as a crashing sound louder than before rung out. Everyone looked on as a man in a gray trench coat stormed in from the side, fighting off the Galbadian soldiers that were chasing him. The man was grappled from behind by a couple of soldiers as another approached him from the front, but he kicked the one coming at him in the stomach, knocking him into the camera and making it fall over while he threw the two holding him off. The man in the gray trench coat took the President from behind when he got free and held his sword to the President's throat as a woman in a peach colored outfit ran into the camera's view.

"What the fuck is going on?" Harold asked as the woman motioned toward the Galbadian soldiers and began shouting.

"Stay back!"

More soldiers ran in, and the woman began shouting at them. "For the last time, stay back! You're only going to provoke him."

"Holy shit…" Mac mumbled as he watched the TV. The woman turned toward the camera and ran up to it.

"Timber Team, are you watching? Get over here right now! You HAVE permission! I need your help!" the woman ordered into the camera as the picture became fuzzy again. Static took over the picture for a few moments before the basketball game from before came back on.

Everyone in the bar was silent for a while before Mac broke it. "Well, that's something you don't see everyday." The bar patrons slowly made their way back to their seats as Mac turned to refill the white haired man's drink. "Another whis…huh?" Mac looked around the bar for a moment to see where he went too, but all he found was a few gil bills sitting on the bar where the man's whisky glass was setting.

"Weird guy…" Mac said to himself as he took the gil and went back to work.

* * *

Adrian walked down the street toward the hotel in a half daze, playing what little he saw on the TV through his head again and again. He had left the bar without notice just as that guy in the gray trench coat ran in and started fighting those soldiers.

"_Sorceress…"_

Adrian stopped and stared blankly out to the horizon, letting his mind fight off the haze that was clouding it and piece his thoughts together.

"_The ambassador is the Sorceress..."_

The memory of his last conversation with Jun ran through his mind.

"_Yes. It was always mine and Richter's belief that a sorceress had a hand in your 'uniqueness'."_

Adrian made it back to the hotel and leaned against the wall outside as he looked up into the sky and tried to make sense of everything. _"Could it be Adel…? No, it couldn't be…"_

Jun's words spoke in his mind again.

"_No. The resistance in Esthar only managed to capture and contain her."_

Adrian looked down at the ground as he closed his eyes. _"Captured and contained… Could she have escaped?"_ He opened his eyes and looked up, watching the clean up crews doing their work down the street. _"For all I know this could be an entirely different sorceress."_

Adrian sighed as he entered the hotel and went to his room. Everything seemed to be happening at once. It's been a year and a half now, a year and a half of living on the road and hunting down criminals. And now…

"_Why tell me this now?"_

"_To give you a purpose. I didn't want you to go off wondering the world aimlessly. This is your chance to find out how you came to be."_

Adrian practically fell onto his bed, feeling exhausted. Sleep seemed like a good thing right about now. Maybe his head would be clearer in the morning. He didn't know what to do, but he knew he had to do something.

The words of President Deling and Jun still played through his mind as sleep overtook him.

……….

Adrian walked along the wilderness. Where he was and where he was going he didn't know. But the place seemed familiar, in a morbid way.

He finally came upon a clearing, and a familiar sent filled his nose. In front of him was a small lake with a tree situated near its shore. Realization hit him.

"This… This is the place where I woke up the morning after…"

"The morning after mother was killed."

Adrian spun around, his hand instinctively going for Muramasa, and suddenly stopped as he saw the sight before him. There in front of him stood a child, a little boy with short white hair and pale skin. But the child's most striking feature was his blood red eyes.

Adrian blinked and took a step back, his hand still resting on Muramasa's hilt. "You… You're…"

The child smiled and nodded. "Yes. I am."

"But…how?" Adrian's hand fell to his side as he looked around, confused. "Where am I?"

"It should be obvious." The child replied as he walked over to the tree and sat down on the ground near it crossed legged. "You're in a memory. Your memory."

"My memory…" Adrian said as he looked to the small boy. "You mean…I'm dreaming?"

The child tilted his head to the side for a moment, thinking. "Yes. You can call it that."

Adrian turned back toward the lake, staring over its reflective surface. "But, why am I dreaming of this?"

The child stood up and walked up to Adrian's side. "That should be obvious too. This is were it all started."

Adrian looked down at the child as the child looked at the lake's surface and then looked to the lake's surface himself, noticing his eyes were the same shade of red as the child's. "Yes, it is…"

The child looked up, and both sets of blood red eyes locked together. "You have a decision to make Adrian."

Adrian broke eye contact and looked away for a moment. "You mean the sorceress."

The child nodded. "Yes."

Adrian sighed and crossed his arms. "But Jun said Adel was the one using vampires during the war, and I can't be sure that this is Adel. There was more than one sorceress you know."

The child nodded again. "Yes, I know. But a sorceress is better than no sorceress. Even if it isn't Adel, don't you feel the need to investigate?"

Adrian closed his eyes and lowered his head. "I don't know…"

The child looked back over the lake and to the sunrise. "You're scared. Don't worry, I understand. No one knows why you are the way you are. Learning why…may not be a pleasant experience."

Adrian said nothing as he looked at the lake's surface once more, staring intently at the eyes that stared back.

The child continued. "But, would you be content living your life never knowing why you are the way you are? Don't you want to know why?"

Adrian finally looked up. "Yes. Of course I want to know why."

The child nodded. "Good. You've made your decision then." The child turned and started walking away as Adrian turned to call out to him.

"But… Yes, I've made my decision. But I'm still not sure what to do."

The child turned around and smiled. "Making the decision was the easy part. How to go about it… That's something you'll have to figure out yourself. Don't worry, have a little faith."

Adrian laughed to himself bitterly. "Faith. That's something I've had little use for lately."

The child looked at him and spoke in a soft voice. "She wouldn't like hearing you say such things, you know."

Adrian stopped and looked up to the child, whose eyes were now blue-green. The child nodded once and smiled again as he turned around.

"Like I said, don't worry. Have a little faith."

* * *

Adrian woke with a start and shielded his eyes against the morning sunlight that was steaming through the window. He groaned as he got up out of bed and made his way to the shower, letting the memory of his dream play through his mind as the warm water washed over him. Spending longer than he usually did in the shower, he finally got out and looked at himself in the mirror as he dried himself off. He let the dark power surface so he could look into those red eyes.

"_Yes. Of course I want to know why."_

Adrian narrowed his eyes and nodded at his reflection in the mirror.

"I've made my decision."

With that, he walked out of the bathroom, dressed, and started packing his belongings.

……….

Adrian was making his way down the street toward the car rental shop where his motorcycle was parked when his hearing detected the distant sound of labored breathing and fast footsteps. He didn't think much of it until he heard whomever it was shouting at him.

"Hey! Mister!"

Adrian turned around and arched an eyebrow as he saw a man running toward him and waving his arms. The man stopped a few feet from him and bent over as he tried to catch his breath.

"Yes?" Adrian asked the man as he finally recovered and stood up. The man looked at Adrian for a few moments before asking him his question.

"You… Are you the man that caught those two robbers yesterday?"

Adrian gave him a questioning look. "Yes, I am. Why do you ask?"

The man smiled. "Good. My wife told me it was a man with long white hair that brought her to the hospital."

Adrian blinked a few times before putting the pieces together. "Your wife, she was the hostage?"

The man nodded. "Yes, that's her."

Adrian nodded. "Is she well?"

"Yeah, thanks to you." The man replied. "She's got a concussion and needed a few stitches, but the doctors said she'll be alright."

"Good, I'm glad she's alright." Adrian said as he turned to continue on his way.

The man ran after him again. "Wait. We owe you so much. I don't know how we'll ever repay you."

Adrian turned back toward the man and shook his head. "You owe me nothing."

"Please." The man persisted. "You don't know how much you've done for us. I own the items shop here in town. Anything you want is free of charge."

Adrian shook his head again as he turned around. "That's not necessary."

"Please." The man persisted again. "I can't just let you leave without doing something for you."

Adrian stood for a few moments with his back to the man. "If you insist." He turned his head to look at the man out of the corner of his eye. "There is one thing that I ask of you."

"Anything. Name it." The man said.

"Cherish her."

"Huh?" The man blinked and sent Adrian a confused look.

Adrian turned around and looked at the man. "You love your wife, no?"

"Of…of course."

"You're lucky. You came close to losing her, but you didn't. Take this chance to cherish her and never take her for granted. You never know when you really will lose her." Adrian said as he closed his eyes and turned back around. "Some of us only learn this lesson when its too late."

The man nodded in understanding. "I will. Thank you."

Adrian nodded and started walking away, only to stop as the man spoke again.

"Its sad you know. We moved here from Deling because of all of the crime there. We were afraid something like this might happen there. Guess the world is filled with bad things no matter where you go."

Adrian looked off into the sky, contemplating what the man just said. "True. This world is filled with bad things. So much so that we forget it is filled with just as many good things. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that the good things are there." Adrian turned to the man and gave him a small smile. "Have a little faith."

The man smiled back. "You're right, I will. Again, you've done so much for us. Thank you."

Adrian nodded one final time as both men turned around to go their respective ways. Realization suddenly hit the man and he turned around. "Oh, wait. I never got your…name?"

The man looked around, but the man with the long white hair was nowhere to be seen. He stood there for a few more moments, looking at the spot where the man once stood, and went back to the hospital to see his wife.

He would follow this mystery savior's advice.

……….

Adrian sat on his motorcycle, looking out over the ocean from the city's edge and having one last cigarette before he left. His mind was a blank. He wasn't sure how he was going to do this, much less what he was going to do.

"_Making the decision was the easy part. How to go about it… That's something you'll have to figure out yourself."_

Adrian sighed as he flicked the cigarette butt to the side. _"How to go about it…"_ he thought to himself. _"I suppose the first move is to go to where the sorceress is. And there's one obvious place an ambassador for Galbadia will be."_

Adrian strapped on his helmet and started the motorcycle, taking off out of Dollet and across the fields in between the mountains towards his destination.

Deling City.

_To be continued..._

_

* * *

_

**Next Episode:**

**Fate plays its hand and paths cross as Adrian arrives in Deling City to confront Galbadia's new ambassador, the sorceress. But it seems he's not the only one that's looking for her. The clock turns, the gates come down, and the battle is joined. But what Adrian sees next will change his life forever.**

**Stay tuned for Smoke and Mirrors - Chapter Two: A Blue Eyed Ghost. **


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